Energy agency sets tough rules for suppliers of poles
Trucks carrying electricity poles. Renewable energy firm Rerec has set up new rules for pole suppliers. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Mr Gicharu said they will work with the Ministry of Environment to plant two million trees by next year.
Board of Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation will only accept poles from trees grown locally.
Many suppliers prefer importing the commodity from countries such as South Africa once they win the tenders.
The Board of Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) has announced strict measures that suppliers of poles must comply with.
Beginning November, the poles suppliers will be required to demonstrate that they have they have planted double or at least the same number of trees felled.
Speaking after a board meeting at the parastatal’s offices in Nairobi’s South C on Friday, Chairman Simon Gicharu said the measures will also help deal with cases where unscrupulous traders cheat the system by registering firms under the category of youth and women yet the beneficiaries of the 30 per cent tenders set aside are not from within that bracket.
FRAUDSTERS
“We are happy to work closely with the DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) to unmask fraudsters,” he said.
The board had earlier met a group of suppliers and took them through the new guidelines ahead of the implementation.
Mr Gicharu said they will work with the Ministry of Environment to plant two million trees by next year. He said the agency will only accept poles from trees grown locally.
Many suppliers prefer importing the commodity from countries such as South Africa once they win the tenders.
In locking out imports, the chairman said this was part of a deliberate push to support President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy project on manufacturing.
“You have heard of our home made stuff before. We want to empower local entrepreneurs instead of bleeding our economy,” Mr Gicharu said.
The parastatal is also in the process of procuring additional testing equipment to ensure that the poles meet the set quality standards.
ROGUE SUPPLIERS
“When they bring in sub-standard poles, we will reject them,” Mr Gicharu said. He said Rerek is committed to weeding out rogue suppliers.
Mr Gicharu, who is serving his second term at the agency, vowed to bring sweeping changes at the state corporation.
In August, Mr Gicharu said that they had embarked on increasing the number of energy centres in the country.
The agency planned to roll out 19 centres across the country as well as 25 mini hybrid centres funded by the World Bank to ensure the entire country is connected to the national grid.
Mr Gicharu said the agency will set up 147 small solar plants in off-grid towns, to light up homes in Mandera, Garissa, Turkana, Wajir, Lamu and Tana River.
He said that they will leverage on the successful implementation of the 54.6 megawatt (MW) Garissa Solar Power Plant, the largest in East and Central Africa, to increase energy centres across the country.
