R. Cons. Eng. Simon Mwangi
eng.simon.mwangi@gmail.com
CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 THE ELECTRIC REASON WHY VISION 2030 MAY BE
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


ACHIEVED 75 YEARS LATE IN 2105
DEVOLVING THE ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY IN KENYA
THE NATIONAL GRID, SMART GRID, INFORMATION
AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND
GIS
ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND SMART
GRID
CONCLUSION
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
1. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
 Vision 2030 is a global strategic management
 Potter, 1990 argues that national prosperity is created, not inherited,




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Factors that support national competitiveness
Factors of production
Demand conditions in the home market,
Related and supporting industries
Firm strategy, structure and rivalry in the national industries.
 In Kenya, the quality supply of electricity affects all the diamond factors of
national competitiveness.
 Yabs (2010) defines strategic management as the art of mobilizing resources and
the science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating decisions that enable
an organization to realize its objectives
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
2. GLOBAL STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
 Part of the Vision 2030 project aims at making it easy for
foreign domestic investment by multinationals in Kenya,
as well as encouraging Kenya's small and medium
enterprises to globalize (GOK, 2007).
 Oloko (2013): foreign products in Kenyan market, get
higher acceptance even when their quality may not be as
good
 challenges facing the domestic SMEs
 poor infrastructure including access roads, power, water,
sewage and telecommunications.
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
3. CULTURE
 Oloko and Ogutu (2012) : Culture is an important determinant of
organisational performance in host countries.
 Power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long
term orientation and indulgence/ restraint.
 What is Kenya's culture, and can MNCs and SMEs expect Kenya to keep
on track with Vision 2030 and assure a globally competitive environment
in the long term?
 What is Kenya's track record with social projects
 e.g. water for all by 2000 that did not produce the anticipated results
(Mumma, 2005),
 It is good practice for scholars to check whether existing government
plans for Vision 2030 are on course in order
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
3. CULTURE contd
 Vandalism is rampant,
 Companies to invest in various strategies to
combat vandalism
 community policing
 spot-welding, reinforcement and relocation
of transformers,
 Introducing extra costs to the service (Kenya
Power, 2012)
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project selection models
 sacred cow
 Operating Necessity
 Competitive Necessity
 Managers dealing with the vision 2030 project activities need to
understand genesis of in order to perform well and provide
effective adjustments as time progressed towards the year 2030.
 Rural Electrification Authority (REA) interpreted Vision 2030 to
mean universal connection to electricity for all Kenyan
households by 2020 (REA, 2010)
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT
FIELDS
5. MARKETING
Massive exodus of manufacturing companies to
countries that have cheaper energy costs
 Ethiopia, USc 3/kw
 Egypt, USc5/kw,
 Tanzania USc9/kw
 Uganda, USc 18.6
 Kenya Usc 18.7/kw, (proposed USc 28/kw)
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT
FIELDS
6. ECONOMICS
 losses of jobs
 increase in poverty levels,
 slow economic growth
 negatively impact goals of Vision 2030 of Kenya being
industrialized country.
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
6. ECONOMICS… Universal Access
 Kenya Power says it will increase electricity access of Kenyans to 50% by 2013
(Kenya Power 2012).
 No such timelines in Vision 2030 (GOK 2007)
 No timelines in Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO)
Website quoting the Ministry of Energy (KETRACO, 2013)
 REA gives a universal connectivity 2020 timeline (REA, 2010).
 Evidently there is no coordination between the bodies
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
7. ENGINEERING
(Karhammar R, SanghvEric A, Arthur M, TullocIan J,
Bergman S and Mathur S, 2006), In a study of several
African countries with close similarities to Kenya
“ Electricity supply networks are based on concepts
imported during colonial times
little adaptation to local conditions
e.g. technical standards allow that for snow and ice
leading to expensive installation and energy costs”
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
8. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS
 According to Helin and Meijer (2006), a value chain
can be defined as the full range of activities which are
required to bring a product or service from conception,
through the different phases of production, delivery to
final customers, and final disposal after use
 We should focus on those aspects of participation
which are adding value in the domestic context (Kean
2008)
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS-VALUE
8. CHAIN ANALYSIS
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
9. LEGAL-Proposed Changes
 Existence of many electricity generating companies
 one transmission company
 many distributing companies
 many retailers, all of who can make business selling to the final consumer
 Power network as an open highway
 Wheeling charge to network owners for transporting supply through them
(GOK 2012)
 Improve competition and service delivery
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
10. DEVOLUTION
 Delay in settling devolution policy and guidelines may affect companies through
causing uncertainty Maina, (2013) : Tariff increases 2012/13 should wait for
devolution
 Devolution is a central topic in the constitution and is one of the national values
which are stated as:
 (a) Patriotism, national unity, sharing and devolution of power, the rule of law,
democracy and participation of the people;
 (b) Human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights,
non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised;
 (c) Good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability; and
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
10. DEVOLUTION
 The Constitution also recognizes that Counties are starting off at differing levels of
development and allows for asynchronous devolution.
 Transition Authority invited Counties to initiate processes that will ensure that
devolution

Electricity Sector is Devolution of County planning and development including
Statistics, land survey and mapping, boundaries and fencing, housing and electricity
and gas reticulation and energy regulation.
 It is a functions ready for transfer by 1st July 2013
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
NATIONAL GRID, SMART GRID, INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICTs) AND GIS

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), (2008) “grid” means the network of transmission
systems, distribution systems and connection points for the movement and supply of electrical
energy from electric power producers’ generators to consumers (ERC, 2008).

Most operations of the Kenyan grid have been manual (construction, fault finding, fault repair,
meter reading, disconnection and reconnections)

With the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), it is possible to computerize
and automate some of these activities

The Constitution also recognizes that Counties are starting off at differing levels of development
and allows for asynchronous devolution.
SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS
NATIONAL GRID, SMART GRID, INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICTs) AND GIS

(Wikipedia, 2013) GIS or geospatial information system is a system that captures, stores, analyses,
manages and presents data with reference to geographic location data.

The Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability of the US Energy Department (2013)
“Smart grid” technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery systems into the 21st
century, using computer-based remote control and automation.

Thus, Smart Grid combined with GIS will give a “live” geographical model that gives data and
operations automation ability and would give a good basis for decision making and devolution of
services.
EXISTING POWER SYSTEM STATISTICS
Length of power lines
220KV -----------------1,355 KM
132 KV-----------------2,387 KM
66KV--------------------- 900 KM
33KV----------------- 16,000 KM
11KV----------------- 35,000 KM
0.24, 0.415 KV....327,000 KM
Dist Txs-------------41,500 No.
Figure 3: A Smart Grid Enabled Devolved
Model Based on the Proposed Energy Policy
Approach per County/Constituency
Githunguri
Approach per County/Constituency
Githunguri
Connectivity Master Plan
(Githunguri)
 The Total number of Possible Customers in branch is
23,323 at the moment.
Status
No.
%
Customers Connected (Actual service lines)
15, 181
65.1
Customers Not Connected but are ≤ 600m
6,418
27.5
Customers Not Connected and are > 600m
1,724
7.4
23,323
100
TOTAL
Current Connectivity Status:
CONNECTIVITY
7%
CONNECTED
28%
NOT CONNECTED
BUT≤600M
65%
NOT CONNECTED
BUT>600M
DATA TO MAKE DECISION ON
 GENERATION
 TRANSMISSION
 DISTRIBUTION
 CUSTOMER
 REGULATION
ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND
SMART GRID/GIS
 GIS is especially useful in Kenya because of the structure of
the industry which consisted of more than a dozen bodies
even before factoring in the differing needs of the 47 new
Counties, since they interact with one grid and their
operations need to be seamless. GIS and Smart Grid would
also enable e-Government and e-Commerce, giving
consumers freedom and flexibility.
 In the electricity sector, the electricity grid is
interconnected and operates as one unit hence care should
be taken to devolve services without adversely affecting the
quality of supply.
ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND
GIS/SMART GRID- Players and Activities
Ministry of Energy (MoE), The Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC), Kenya Electricity Generating
Company (KenGen), Independent Power Producers
(IPPs), The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company
(KETRACO), Rural Electrification Authority (REA),
Kenya Power (KP ), The Geothermal Development
Company (GDC) , New Connections by contracted
players, Many Donors and partners , Post paid , prepaid
meters and fixed rate accounts in the slums and
Counties
ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND
SMART GRID- Solving Challenges in Energy Policy
GIS and Smart Grid usage would enable address the challenges identified in the energy
policy as follows:
1.
High end-user electricity tariffs- GIS allows for proper planning and more focused
asset management and monitoring of teams deployment, thus lowering operational
costs and reducing pressure for tariff increases
2.
High electricity connection charges. Despite efforts to subsidize the cost of connection
to between Kshs.17,000/- to KShs.35,000/-, the amount was beyond the reach of
majority of rural consumers, thus the proposed cost in the region of 70,000 is not
sustainable. GIS would identify the total quantities required, enable long term
planning so that investors can be encouraged to produce locally, have economies of
scale, and create employment
3.
Vandalism of electric power infrastructure- GIS would be invaluable in deciding
the location of transformers and equipment, studying vandalism trends and also enable
asset tracking. In providing better access to electricity, it is possible to use community
policing to reduce vandalism
ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND
SMART GRID- Solving Challenges in Energy Policy
4.
Lengthy process of way-leaves acquisition would be
shortened by proper design maps and having shared GIS
information of land ownership with the Lands office
5.
Encroachment of way-leaves trace would be reduced since
the GIS maps would mark out the wayleave traces and reduce
chances of fraudulent sale of lands under the power lines
6.
Weak distribution network characterized by limited
redundancy and aging installations leading to frequent and
prolonged supply interruptions- GIS would obviate the areas that
need attention and prioritise reinforcement projects on a well
defined basis. Manual methods relying on experiential expertise do
not retain institutional memory when people move on
ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND
SMART GRID- Solving Challenges in Energy Policy
7.
Overhead lines prone to frequent interruptions due to corrosion and climatic changesGIS would enable mapping out of geographical zones that require different kinds of
lines such as cities, forests, airstrips
8.
In particular, GIS and Smart Grid would address computerized analysis of system
losses , identify illegal power line connections and theft of electricity. This would in
turn enable corroboration with Counties and local authorities, so that when physical
plans are made, they provide an infrastructure corridor for electricity reticulation. It is
even possible to use the local authority agents to reduce rampant power theft through
community policing
9.
In the open access model, it is possible to use counties and local authorities as
power retailers where they use the same resources for electricity and water distribution and
meter reading to save on costs and reduce the pressure for high arbitrary levies charged by
the Local Authorities on power infrastructures. Hence GIS and Smart Grid would provide a
proper basis for generating sustainable business data.
CONCLUSION
 Devolved systems of government in order to bring services closer
to the people and achieve economic growth.
 Devolution, if not handled properly, will not deliver full benefits
to citizens. It is important for the culture of planning, including
data collection, study and analysis for decision making to take
root in order to make proper use of limited resources available.
 In the electricity sector, the electricity grid is interconnected
and operates as one unit hence care should be taken to devolve
services without adversely affecting the quality of supply.
CONCLUSION
 Electricity is also a key driver of economic development, and
therefore the unit costs must be brought down both for new
connections and for the unit consumptions.
 It is also necessary to monitor consumption and operation trends
at national level for planning and policy purposes, Hence, while
devolving services and giving freedom to counties, a National
Electricity Data and Study Centre should keep tabs on the
National picture
 It is also neccessary to monitor consumption and operation
trends local and business level by utilities and local
governments for business and taxation.
CONCLUSION
 In a rapidly changing this environment, online data is
necessary for the correct, convenient and safe operation of
the electricity grid.
 The GIS and Smart Grid concept removes the technical
complexity from the sector and allows for easy devolution,
in a way that electricity will support economic growth. In
its absence the quality of electricity supply and services are
likely to be poor and will hinder devolution and the
achievement of Vision 2030
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