Kenya Power has commenced the relocation of power lines between Mlolongo, Mombasa Road and James Gichuru Road to pave way for construction of the 27.1-kilometer-long Nairobi Expressway.
The exercise is being carried out at a cost of Sh1.08 billion which will be met by the Kenya National Highways Authority.
In a statement on Thursday, the company said it recognises the importance of the expressway to the national infrastructure framework and is keen on completing this exercise with minimal interruptions to power supply.
“When executing projects of this magnitude, some of the customers within the estates along the expressway corridor will experience interruptions in power supply,” Kenya Power’s managing director and CEO Bernard Ngugi said.
Ngungi said the company plans to minimize power interruptions by leveraging on the Live Line Maintenance technology which relocate most of the lines without switching off supply.
The scope of work will involve the relocation of a combined 106 kilometres of high voltage (66kV), medium voltage (11kV), and low voltage cables as well as 28 transformers serving the area.
Kenya Power has so far covered 17 kilometres of the Expressway. Once completed, 40.6 kilometres of the network will pass underground.
“We aim to keep the lights on even as we carry out this critical exercise. We will ensure that we relocate as much network as possible using our Live Line Maintenance team to minimise interruption,” he said.
The exercise begun in September and will be completed at the end of November this year.
It is being carried out by a team of 60 employees from Kenya Power and 4 external underground cabling contractors.
Two months ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Nairobi Expressway, a first of its kind in Kenya.
The project, to be implemented by Kenha, will be a four lane dual carriageway.
The project connects the Nairobi-Mombasa section and the Nairobi-Malaba section.
The expressway will have 10 interchanges, including the SGR terminus at JKIA, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass and Enterprise Road.