Kenya Power on the move to minimize nausea power outages

National electricity distributor, Kenya Power, has begun replacing bare electricity conductors with insulated ones to minimize power interruptions in Nairobi's leafy suburbs.

The Company's Regional Manager for Nairobi West, Mr. Peter Njenga, said the insulated cables will prevent power outages caused by the clashing of electricity cables whenever tree branches fall on power lines especially during rainy seasons. Mr. Njenga was speaking at Karen during the ' launch of Boresha Umeme programme that will benefit electricity consumers in the area including Dagoretti and Langata estates. He said the insulated cables, otherwise known as aerial bundled conductors, will help minimise outages caused by trees falling on the electricity network.

"Besides, they are safe even when on the ground and offer better aesthetics compared to bare conductors;' he added. Said Mr. Njenga: 'We are in the second phase of he Boresha Umeme programme which we begun last financial year. While our focus last year was on the high voltage network especially those serving large power consumers and high growth areas and urban centres, our focus this is to extend the Boresha Umeme programme to the voltage network linking ordinary customers,"

“This refurbishment exercise will cost Shs.93 million. It will stabilize power reliability and, ultimately, reduce power outages which have been experienced in these areas due to overloaded transformers brought about by the growing demand for electricity,"he emphasised. Last year, Kenya Power has carried out Boresha Umeme activities in over forty towns countrywide with marked service Improvements reported. The network refurbishment exercise is currently in its second phase with an emphasis on the low-voltage network. The first phase of Boresha Umeme was geared towards the high-voltage network which mainly serves the large-scale service industries.