THE PLACE OF ELECTRICITY GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND SMART GRID IN DEVOLVING SERVICES IN KENYA

R. Cons. Eng. Simon Mwangieng.simon.mwangi@gmail.com

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTIONTHE ELECTRIC REASON WHY VISION 2030

MAY BE ACHIEVED 75 YEARS LATE IN 2105DEVOLVING THE ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY IN

KENYATHE NATIONAL GRID, SMART GRID,

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND GIS

ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND SMART GRID

CONCLUSION

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS1. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Vision 2030 is a global strategic management

Potter, 1990 argues that national prosperity is created, not inherited,

Factors that support national competitiveness Factors of production Demand conditions in the home market, Related and supporting industries Firm strategy, structure and rivalry in the national industries.

In Kenya, the quality supply of electricity affects all the diamond factors of national competitiveness.

Yabs (2010) defines strategic management as the art of mobilizing resources and the science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating decisions that enable an organization to realize its objectives

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS2. GLOBAL STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Part of the Vision 2030 project aims at making it easy for foreign domestic investment by multinationals in Kenya, as well as encouraging Kenya's small and medium enterprises to globalize (GOK, 2007).

Oloko (2013): foreign products in Kenyan market, get higher acceptance even when their quality may not be as good

challenges facing the domestic SMEs poor infrastructure including access roads, power,

water, sewage and telecommunications.

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS3. CULTURE

Oloko and Ogutu (2012) : Culture is an important determinant of organisational performance in host countries.

Power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence/ restraint.

What is Kenya's culture, and can MNCs and SMEs expect Kenya to keep on track with Vision 2030 and assure a globally competitive environment in the long term?

What is Kenya's track record with social projects e.g. water for all by 2000 that did not produce the anticipated results

(Mumma, 2005), It is good practice for scholars to check whether existing government

plans for Vision 2030 are on course in order

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS3. CULTURE contd

Vandalism is rampant, Companies to invest in various

strategies to combat vandalismcommunity policing spot-welding, reinforcement and

relocation of transformers, Introducing extra costs to the

service (Kenya Power, 2012)

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project selection models

sacred cow Operating Necessity Competitive Necessity

Managers dealing with the vision 2030 project activities need to understand genesis of in order to perform well and provide effective adjustments as time progressed towards the year 2030.

Rural Electrification Authority (REA) interpreted Vision 2030 to mean universal connection to electricity for all Kenyan households by 2020 (REA, 2010)

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS5. MARKETINGMassive exodus of manufacturing companies to countries that have cheaper energy costs Ethiopia, USc 3/kw Egypt, USc5/kw, Tanzania USc9/kw Uganda, USc 18.6 Kenya Usc 18.7/kw, (proposed USc 28/kw)

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS6. ECONOMICSlosses of jobs

increase in poverty levels,

slow economic growth

negatively impact goals of Vision 2030 of

Kenya being industrialized country.

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS6. ECONOMICS… Universal Access

Kenya Power says it will increase electricity access of Kenyans

to 50% by 2013 (Kenya Power 2012).

No such timelines in Vision 2030 (GOK 2007)

No timelines in Kenya Electricity Transmission Company

(KETRACO) Website quoting the Ministry of Energy (KETRACO,

2013)

REA gives a universal connectivity 2020 timeline (REA, 2010).

Evidently there is no coordination between the bodies

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS7. ENGINEERING

(Karhammar R, SanghvEric A, Arthur M, TullocIan J, Bergman S and Mathur S, 2006), In a study of several African countries with close similarities to Kenya

“ Electricity supply networks are based on concepts imported during colonial timeslittle adaptation to local conditions e.g. technical standards allow that for snow and ice leading to expensive installation and energy costs”

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS8. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS

According to Helin and Meijer (2006), a value chain can be defined as the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production, delivery to final customers, and final disposal after use

We should focus on those aspects of participation which are adding value in the domestic context (Kean 2008)

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS-VALUE 8. CHAIN ANALYSIS

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS9. LEGAL-Proposed Changes

Existence of many electricity generating companies

one transmission company

many distributing companies

many retailers, all of who can make business selling to the final

consumer

Power network as an open highway

Wheeling charge to network owners for transporting supply through

them (GOK 2012)

Improve competition and service delivery

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS10. DEVOLUTION Delay in settling devolution policy and guidelines may affect companies through

causing uncertainty Maina, (2013) : Tariff increases 2012/13 should wait for

devolution

Devolution is a central topic in the constitution and is one of the national values

which are stated as:

(a) Patriotism, national unity, sharing and devolution of power, the rule of law,

democracy and participation of the people;

(b) Human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-

discrimination and protection of the marginalised;

(c) Good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability; and

(d) Sustainable development.

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDS10. DEVOLUTION The Constitution also recognizes that Counties are starting off at differing

levels of development and allows for asynchronous devolution.

Transition Authority invited Counties to initiate processes that will ensure

that devolution

Electricity Sector is Devolution of County planning and development

including Statistics, land survey and mapping, boundaries and fencing,

housing and electricity and gas reticulation and energy regulation.

It is a functions ready for transfer by 1st July 2013

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDSNATIONAL GRID, SMART GRID, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICTs) AND GIS

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), (2008) “grid” means the network of

transmission systems, distribution systems and connection points for the

movement and supply of electrical energy from electric power producers’

generators to consumers (ERC, 2008).

Most operations of the Kenyan grid have been manual (construction, fault finding,

fault repair, meter reading, disconnection and reconnections)

With the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), it is possible

to computerize and automate some of these activities

The Constitution also recognizes that Counties are starting off at differing levels of

development and allows for asynchronous devolution.

SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT FIELDSNATIONAL GRID, SMART GRID, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICTs) AND GIS

(Wikipedia, 2013) GIS or geospatial information system is a system that captures,

stores, analyses, manages and presents data with reference to geographic location

data.

The Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability of the US Energy Department

(2013)

“Smart grid” technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery systems

into the 21st century, using computer-based remote control and automation.

Thus, Smart Grid combined with GIS will give a “live” geographical model that gives

data and operations automation ability and would give a good basis for decision

making and devolution of services.

Length of power lines

220KV -----------------1,355

KM

132 KV-----------------2,387

KM

66KV--------------------- 900

KM

33KV----------------- 16,000

KM

11KV----------------- 35,000

KM

0.24, 0.415 KV....327,000

KM

Dist Txs-------------41,500 No.

EXISTING POWER SYSTEM STATISTICS

Figure 3: A Smart Grid Enabled Devolved Model Based on the Proposed Energy Policy

Approach per County/Constituency

Githunguri

Approach per County/Constituency

Githunguri

Connectivity Master Plan (Githunguri)The Total number of Possible Customers in

branch is 23,323 at the moment.

Status No. %

Customers Connected (Actual service lines)

15, 181 65.1

Customers Not Connected but are ≤ 600m

6,418 27.5

Customers Not Connected and are > 600m

1,724 7.4

TOTAL 23,323 100

Current Connectivity Status:

65%

27%

7%

CONNECTIVITY

CONNECTEDNOT CONNECTED BUT≤600MNOT CONNECTED BUT>600M

DATA TO MAKE DECISION ON

GENERATION

TRANSMISSION

DISTRIBUTION

CUSTOMER

REGULATION

ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND SMART GRID/GIS GIS is especially useful in Kenya because of the

structure of the industry which consisted of more than a dozen bodies even before factoring in the differing needs of the 47 new Counties, since they interact with one grid and their operations need to be seamless. GIS and Smart Grid would also enable e-Government and e-Commerce, giving consumers freedom and flexibility.

In the electricity sector, the electricity grid is interconnected and operates as one unit hence care should be taken to devolve services without adversely affecting the quality of supply.

ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND GIS/SMART GRID- Players and Activities

Ministry of Energy (MoE), The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Independent Power Producers (IPPs), The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO), Rural Electrification Authority (REA), Kenya Power (KP ), The Geothermal Development Company (GDC) , New Connections by contracted players, Many Donors and partners , Post paid , prepaid meters and fixed rate accounts in the slums and Counties

ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND SMART GRID- Solving Challenges in Energy Policy

GIS and Smart Grid usage would enable address the challenges identified in the energy policy as follows: 1. High end-user electricity tariffs- GIS allows for proper planning and more focused

asset management and monitoring of teams deployment, thus lowering operational costs and reducing pressure for tariff increases

2. High electricity connection charges. Despite efforts to subsidize the cost of connection to between Kshs.17,000/- to KShs.35,000/-, the amount was beyond the reach of majority of rural consumers, thus the proposed cost in the region of 70,000 is not sustainable. GIS would identify the total quantities required, enable long term planning so that investors can be encouraged to produce locally, have economies of scale, and create employment

3. Vandalism of electric power infrastructure- GIS would be invaluable in deciding the location of transformers and equipment, studying vandalism trends and also enable asset tracking. In providing better access to electricity, it is possible to use community policing to reduce vandalism

ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND SMART GRID- Solving Challenges in Energy Policy4. Lengthy process of way-leaves acquisition would be shortened by proper design maps and having shared GIS information of land ownership with the Lands office5. Encroachment of way-leaves trace would be reduced since the GIS maps would mark out the wayleave traces and reduce chances of fraudulent sale of lands under the power lines6. Weak distribution network characterized by limited redundancy and aging installations leading to frequent and prolonged supply interruptions- GIS would obviate the areas that need attention and prioritise reinforcement projects on a well defined basis. Manual methods relying on experiential expertise do not retain institutional memory when people move on

ROLE OF NATIONAL STUDY CENTRE, GIS AND SMART GRID- Solving Challenges in Energy Policy7. Overhead lines prone to frequent interruptions due to corrosion and climatic

changes- GIS would enable mapping out of geographical zones that require different kinds of lines such as cities, forests, airstrips

8. In particular, GIS and Smart Grid would address computerized analysis of system losses , identify illegal power line connections and theft of electricity. This would in turn enable corroboration with Counties and local authorities, so that when physical plans are made, they provide an infrastructure corridor for electricity reticulation. It is even possible to use the local authority agents to reduce rampant power theft through community policing

9. In the open access model, it is possible to use counties and local authorities as power retailers where they use the same resources for electricity and water distribution and meter reading to save on costs and reduce the pressure for high arbitrary levies charged by the Local Authorities on power infrastructures. Hence GIS and Smart Grid would provide a proper basis for generating sustainable business data.  

CONCLUSION

Devolved systems of government in order to bring services closer to the people and achieve economic growth.

Devolution, if not handled properly, will not deliver full benefits to citizens. It is important for the culture of planning, including data collection, study and analysis for decision making to take root in order to make proper use of limited resources available.

In the electricity sector, the electricity grid is interconnected and operates as one unit hence care should be taken to devolve services without adversely affecting the quality of supply.

CONCLUSION

Electricity is also a key driver of economic development, and therefore the unit costs must be brought down both for new connections and for the unit consumptions.

It is also necessary to monitor consumption and operation trends at national level for planning and policy purposes, Hence, while devolving services and giving freedom to counties, a National Electricity Data and Study Centre should keep tabs on the National picture 

It is also neccessary to monitor consumption and operation trends local and business level by utilities and local governments for business and taxation.

CONCLUSION

In a rapidly changing this environment, online data is necessary for the correct, convenient and safe operation of the electricity grid.

The GIS and Smart Grid concept removes the technical complexity from the sector and allows for easy devolution, in a way that electricity will support economic growth. In its absence the quality of electricity supply and services are likely to be poor and will hinder devolution and the achievement of Vision 2030

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