President William Ruto on Wednesday ordered the unbundling of Kenya Power transmission lines as a way to end perennial nationwide blackouts.
During a Cabinet meeting held at the State House, it was agreed that the unbundling would ensure that power failure in one part of the nation did not affect all other parts of the country.
In line with that, the National Government will build the Bomet-Narok line at a cost of Ksh66 billion.
The construction of the Bomet-Narok line will be financed through loans advanced by the Africa Development Bank.
The transmission line was initially funded in 2016, but construction delayed ever since.
It was not immediately clear how the government would circumnavigate legal issues that have delayed the commencement of the project.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir who was present in the cabinet meeting had stated that the Sunday evening blackout was caused by an overload on the Kisumu-Muhoroni transmission line.
With the current plan, such overloading will only cause blackouts in an isolated region instead of throwing the whole country into darkness.
The cabinet further approved installing a multi-billion solar project for the Seven Forks Dam.
The solar project will have a 42MW battery power that will ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply even in cases of power failure from the dams.
In what will be one of the most expensive infrastructure projects for the Kenya Kwanza administration, the solar project will cost Ksh200 billion to be completed.
Kenya has experienced three nationwide blackouts in a space of 90 days causing national outrage.
