- In a bid to plug power leakages and theft in Kenya, Kenya Power will be signing a deal with Safaricom for installing smart electricity meters to Kenya Power’s large consumers.
- The deal is expected to turn around Kenya Power’s financial position by reducing energy losses.
- Additionally, it will improve collection, increase business operational efficiency and enhance cost efficiency.
In a bid to plug power leakages and theft in Kenya, Kenya Power will be signing a deal with Safaricom for installing smart electricity meters for Kenya Power’s large consumers. The deal is expected to turn around Kenya Power’s financial position by reducing energy losses. Additionally, it will improve the collection, increase business operational efficiency and enhance cost efficiency.
A Sh31 billion intelligent system will be installed by Safaricom to connect 330,300 electricity meters to a central location and track electricity use, power outages and load on transformers as well as read meters remotely. According to initial reports, the deal will enable telco to earn Sh53.5 billion. The deal is expected to bring down the share of electricity bought from generators such as KenGen leading to higher revenue earning for Kenya Power. Kenya Power is projected to earn additional revenues of Sh71 billion in eight years. According to sources, Safaricom is set to earn 75 percent of the additional sales or Sh53 billion, with Kenya Power taking the remaining Sh17.9 billion. The telco is expected to recover its investments in four years and transfer the smart reading network to Kenya Power after eight years. Kenya Power is seeking a review of the revenue share.
Safaricom has been taking up new initiatives to diversify its incomes from voice, short message services, cash transfers and payments.In 2014, it started installing a Sh14.9 billion communication and surveillance system for police stations to help combat crime in Nairobi and Mombasa.
