Over 9000 households to receive electricity in Phase 5 of Last Mile project

Over 9,000 households in four counties are set to get electricity connection after the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) received a Sh1.85 billion grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Kenya Power on Monday announced that the households in Nakuru, Kilifi, Kwale, and Nyandarua will get a connection to the national electricity grid under Phase V of the project.

Kenya Power's General Manager for Commercial Services and Sales Rosemary Oduor revealed that the project is expected to be implemented and completed by January 2025.

"We expect to connect all the targeted households across the four counties by January 2025. The company is committed to fast-tracking electricity connection across the country to achieve universal access to electricity," she said.

This grant follows Kenya Power's recent signing of twenty-six contracts for Phase IV of the Last Mile Connectivity Project just two months ago.

The Sh27 billion initiative, backed by the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the European Investment Bank (EIB), aims to connect 280,000 new customers to the electricity grid by November 2025.

With a total funding of Sh73.1 billion to date, the Last Mile Connectivity Project is based on the Kenya National Electrification Strategy, which was established in 2015 to accelerate electricity access for households and businesses across Kenya.

Kenya Power is managing the project on behalf of the government.

Since its launch in 2015, the Last Mile Connectivity Project has played a crucial role in raising the electricity access rate in Kenya, which now stands at 76 per cent, with 9.6 million households connected to the grid.

Kenya Power reported that the first three phases of the project have connected a total of 746,867 households, for Sh51.1 billion.

"This success is primarily hinged on maximising the efficiency of existing distribution transformers by connecting every household within 600m of the transformer as well as the installation of new transformers to serve households outside this radius," Kenya Power added.