Safaricom Invites Tech Companies To Bid For $275 Million Project With Kenya Power

Kenya Power recently signed a deal with telecommunications company Safaricom to install new electricity smart meters with an upgraded intelligence system.

The partnership will see Kenya Power improve in its service delivery and will also be at less risk for vandalism of transformers, illegal connections, and leakages which will be tracked by the anti-theft smart equipment.

Safaricom is now inviting bids from high technology companies to tender for supply, as per documents seen by Business Daily. The telco intends to spend $275,923,451 to install the tech alongside 330,300 smart meters to households and businesses. The project is estimated to net $631,953,711 worth of revenue in eight years, Safaricom earning 75% of this amount before transferring functions fully to Kenya Power.

The system will be equipped with CCTV cameras, audio alarms where applicable, and geolocation tech that sends information on movement next to or even on a transformer’s pole.

“The primary objective of this Expression of Interest is to identify reputable and qualified vendors who will provide a transformer vandalism monitoring system to prevent cases of transformer vandalism by detecting, alerting, and prompting a response,” says Safaricom.

The telco plans to deploy the same technology with water companies, including State-controlled utility firms which lose a lot of water on the way to the consumer.

The Water Services Regulatory Board reports that 21 counties lost more than 50 percent of the water they produced, the effects of which are eventually transferred down to the consumer in high costs and chronic water shortages.

The smart intelligence system will work similarly to how it does with power. It will track water use, leakages, theft, and remote reading of meters assisted by Safaricom’s high-speed internet connection.

“We do have the technology that we believe can help utility companies of which Kenya Power is one of them and also water companies to be able to reduce the level of losses by creating transparency in distribution,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.