EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
FOR
The
Design,
Supply,
Installation
and
Commissioning of a passive Fibre Optic
Telecommunications Network for the Kenya
Power Smart Grid Pilot.
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1. Background
Kenya Power is a public utility company established with the mandate for transmission,
distribution and retailing of electricity. Kenya Power, today face’s a varying mix of regulatory
requirements, market pressures, and mounting public scrutiny. The combination of these
pressures has created the necessity for Kenya Power to dramatically re-evaluate its approach
to distributing power, servicing its customers and cutting costs. The main challenges that
Kenya Power is grappling with are;
1. Distributing of the power through an aging, inefficient and environmentally
wasteful electricity grid system.
2. Current electricity demand exceeding generation capacity hence leading to
power blackouts and rationing.
3. Inability to effectively provide grid management and monitoring at all times.
4. Rising fuel costs leading to high power bills for customers and hence customer
dissatisfaction.
5. Vandalism of distribution infrastructure such as conductors, transformers and
other accessories.
These challenges demand that the future Kenya Power electricity grid system must be a more
intelligent system; a system that will actively sense and respond to changes in power demand,
supply and cost. Simply put, the grid will have to be “Smart”. However, the successful
evolution of the Kenya Power grid into a two-way, more intelligent grid system will depend to
a large extent on the capabilities of the underlying Telecommunications Network.
2. Objectives
Kenya Power through this Expression of Interest is seeking a suitable and leading Fibre optic
technology partner or consortia to design, supply, install and commission its pilot Fibre optic
Telecommunications Network required to drive its new smart grid power network. The Fibre
will be installed on overheard power lines ranging from 230/415V and 11KV to 132KV within
selected areas in Nairobi, Mombasa and County headquarters in Kenya.
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3. Scope of the Assignment
The solution envisaged should be modern, reliable and flexible to enable Kenya Power to
operate its electricity grid safely, reliably and efficiently. The solution is expected to have a
single cohesive network strategy that will meet existing and future operational requirements.
This strategy must ensure that the installed Fibre network will support:
1. Distribution Automation Systems and related Intelligent Devices.
2. Advanced Metering Management System and Smart Meters.
3. Existing SCADA and Tele-protection systems.
4. Existing TDM-based radio system.
5. Triple play services (voice, data, and video) offered to the power utility
customers by various licensed service providers.
The introduction of distribution automation, smart metering and triple play services will result
in a drastic growth of Kenya Power bandwidth requirements and hence the logical network
will be implemented using Passive Optical Network (PON) technology. For the logical network
to work, it will require the installations of various Fibre optic cables at the transmission,
distribution, access and last mile levels (customer premise). Kenya Power has chosen Fibre
optics as the backbone of its telecommunications network for the following reasons;
1. Fibre Optics will enable Kenya Power to build the network of the future,
supporting transport for data between the smart meters and the meter
management systems, distribution automation system and intelligent devices,
and triple play services.
2. Fibre Optics will allow Kenya Power to effectively deliver all of these services
with the right user experience while significantly reducing the equipment,
cabling and power required.
3. Fibre Optics offers key advantages such as robust security, low operating
expenses and high bandwidth availability.
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4. Benefits to the Company
Kenya Power will benefit from an end-to-end telecommunication infrastructure developed
collaboratively with the telecommunications technology partner. The benefits that will accrue
to Kenya Power as a result of the implementation of such a telecommunications network will
include;
1. Efficiency, significant cost savings will accrue to Kenya power due to the
implementation of demand-response programs together with distribution
automation.
2. Reliability, Automatic or remote controlled switches installed on distribution circuits
will enable Kenya Power to isolate faults more quickly, and reduce the amount of time
many customers are without power.
3. Quality, Kenya Power will be capable of delivering the quality of power required to
run the new digital economy by better controlling voltage throughout the distribution
system.
4. Decentralized Generation, The Smart Grid will encourage distributed generation by
allowing the generation of power where it is being consumed, avoiding transmission
and distribution losses.
5. Environment, Clean, renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, geothermal and
energy storage technologies can easily be integrated into the Kenya Power grid.
6. Affordability, Kenya Power will provide consumers with new options for managing
their own electricity consumption i.e. Time of Use (TOU) billing.
7. Security, the grid will be more resistant to attack and natural disasters since it’s more
decentralized and reinforced with Smart Grid security protocols.
8. Capital Investment, Kenya Power will be able to optimize the distribution system and
get better system performance from investments in capital.
9. New Opportunities, Opening the Smart Grid to innovation will enable Kenya Power to
exploit new opportunities and markets to grow unfettered i.e. Telecommunications
Business.
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5. Pre – Qualification Criteria
Submission of an EOI will not constitute a bid. The information submitted in the EOI will be
solely used by Kenya Power for the purpose of completing its prequalification exercise and
thereafter in the preparation of a Request for Proposal (RFP) document.
Eligible and reputable technology partners or consortia who wish to be shortlisted must
provide adequate information regarding their company profile, qualification and competence
to undertake such a project and specific experience in performing similar work projects. In
addition, the technology partner must meet the following minimum requirements;
1. The partner or consortia must have completed at least five (5) similar projects
within the last 10 years with the total project value d exceeding 30M USD and
at least two (2) of the projects must be in the power utility sector. Letters of
recommendations from the partner’s customers must be provided for the
reference projects provided.
2. The partner’s proposed solution must be highly reliable and able to work and
integrate seamlessly with at least two (2) Advanced Metering Management
Systems, Distribution Automation Management Systems and the existing
SCADA system at Kenya Power.
3. The partner will be required to do presentations to Kenya Power outlining their
proposed solution, capability and project implementation methodology.
4. The partner must be ready to showcase at least two (2) existing completed
utility reference sites by facilitating and paying for site visits by 3 Kenya Power
personnel during the prequalification exercise.
5. The partner should make proposals on how financing for the project can be
achieved as part of their submission.
6. The partner must provide their audited financial accounts for the last three (3)
years clearly showing profit, turnover and company’s capital.
This invitation for Expression of Interest shall lead to short-listing of eligible technology
partners or consortia who will then be invited to submit proposals to carry out the
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assignment should Kenya Power decide to proceed with the project. The invitation will be
through the Request for Proposal (RFP) that will be sent to them.
Kenya Power is now seeking expressions of interest from telecommunications technology
partners or consortia interested in participating in this bid. Interested bidders may obtain
further information from the office of the Chief Manager, Distribution, situated at Stima
Plaza, 4th Floor, Kolobot Road, Parklands, and Nairobi on working days between 0900 and
1630 hours, E-mail address: bmurithi@kplc.co.ke
10. Responding Procedure
The expressions of interest documents must be submitted in three (3) copies (1 original and 2
copies) and should be addressed and delivered to:
The Company Secretary
Kenya Power
7th Floor, Stima Plaza, Kolobot Road, Parklands
P O Box 30099 - 00100
Nairobi, Kenya.
So as to be received not later than 10.00 am on the 26th of March 2012.
The Expression of Interest will be opened promptly after closing and bidders or their
representatives are welcome to witness the opening in the Stima Plaza Auditorium.
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