Kenya’s energy space & drones

Drones are storming into Kenya’s energy sector. In the last 12 months, Chinese contractors & the local Electricity Transmittion Company (Kengen) used drones to set up high voltage power line on pylons over almost 500 kms.

Deployment of drones proved to be the most efficient ways to get for this project but also the others to come, especially those traversing remote, rugged terrain, could follow a similar route. There is also a plan to use drones for surveillance & maintenance of this power network. The impending switch to the pilotless aircraft, away from helicopters currently used for patrols, is expected to cut costs and improve service delivery, translating to less downtime for homes and businesses during network breakdowns.

KenGen also announced last year it would tap into drone technology for surveillance of its geothermal power projects in remote, rugged Olkaria steam fields, Naivasha. Deployment of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will help KenGen collect data and relay it to control centres in real-time.

The drones plan coincides with KenGen’s quest to deploy Internet of Things (IoT) to boost operation and maintenance of power plants. The IoT technology connects separate devices, appliances and equipment via the internet, allowing them to communicate with each other, collect & exchange data.