A Chinese firm Shenzhen Star Instruments Company is set to supply US $7.3m power meters to Kenya’s power utility firm Kenya Power. This is after the company won the tender to supply the single phase prepayment meters.
Kenya Power expects to add more customers through the return of its Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) that links homes to the national grid under a subsidised programme.
Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP)
The proposed Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) aims to optimize the use of selected Kenya Power and Lighting Company’s (KPLC) 45 000 distribution transformers located in the country’s 47 districts, through the extension of the low voltage network. It focuses on supporting the Kenyan government’s initiatives aimed at improving access to electricity for the Kenyans, especially the low income groups.
The Kenyan government is committed to increase the populations’ access to electricity from 53% in 2016 to 70% in 2017 and 100% in 2020. This support, which is part of this initiative’s Phase II, aims to connect a minimum of about 285 000 individual subscribers and 15 000 commercial subscribers located within a 600m radius around an existing transformer.
Also Read: Kenya Power to carry on its Last Mile Connectivity Program
To do so, the project entails: The supply of distribution equipment to connect 300,000 new subscribers; the construction of low voltage distribution lines (LV); the supervision and management; and capacity building activities in targeted areas of expertise.
The direct beneficiaries of this project are households, rural populations (belonging mainly to low income groups) and small businesses established in the vicinity of distribution transformers, in the districts where the penetration rate is the lowest.
By providing increased electricity access, the project will contribute to increase the standards of living among targeted households, particularly in terms of education, health and access to information. As for small businesses, it will help them increase their competitiveness and expand their activities.
