Ethiopia/Kenya: $450m transmission contract

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) on 26 October signed a contract with Germany’s Siemens and Spain’s Isolux Corsan to design, build and install equipment for converter stations as part of the $1.3bn project to connect the countries’ grids. The 1,000km 500kV direct current transmission line will connect converter stations at Suswa in Kenya and Sodo in Ethiopia, providing transfer capacity of 2,000MW which will flow in both directions. The transmission line on the Ethiopian side of the border is being built by China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company through a $119m contract signed in June.