Kenya Power has commenced preparations to implement the fourth phase of the Last Mile Connectivity Programme (LMCP) which will benefit an additional 280,473 Kenyan households.
The Company has invited bids for turnkey contractors who will undertake the project in 32 counties at a cost of Sh26.8 billion.
This phase of the project will entail the installation of 940 new transformers, maximisation of 3,735 existing transformers, and the construction of associated power lines in the identified counties.
The project, which will commence in November, will be fully funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The LMCP is a Government flagship project that was initiated in 2015 with the aim of providing affordable connection in rural and peri-urban areas and accelerating universal electricity access to drive social economic growth in line with the country’s 2030 development agenda.
The programme is also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 7 which aims at providing access to clean and affordable energy for all.
Over 1 million Kenyan households have so far been connected to electricity under the first three phases of the programme funded by the Government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.
This has contributed to the rapid expansion of the country’s network giving electricity access to over 75% of the population, up from a low of 29% in 2012, ranking Kenya among the world’s top countries in electricity connection growth rate.
The LMCP has had a positive impact on Kenyans as revealed by a recent Project Impact Evaluation done by AfDB showing there has been an 83% increase in the use of
