OFFICIAL USE ONLY:

PASS/FAIL___________________REVIEWED BY CORDINATOR__________________

DATE REVIEWED AND SIGNED ____________________________________________

Name LALAI SAMUEL NTONGAI Reg No. **********

DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

KENYA POWER AND LIGHTING COMPANY PLC

Mt. Kenya Region Office
P.O. Box 106-10100 Nyeri, Kenya
Section Attached: KPLC Meru

STUDENTS’ EXTERNAL ATTACHMENT REPORT

DATE: JAN-MARCH, 2020

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S T U D E N T’S P A R T I C U L A R S

Name of student: LALAI SAMUEL NTONGAI

Registration No. of the student: ************

Department: ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

Course of study: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL AND

ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

Year of study: YEAR THREE SEMESTER THREE

Company Attached KENYA POWER AND LIGHTING COMPANY

Station Attached MERU BRANCH

Company Address: Mt. Kenya Region Office, P.O. Box 106-10100 Nyeri, Kenya

Directions to the Attachment: Dedan kimathi University of Technology-Nyeri

Town-Nanyuki_Meru Road-Makutano Meru-Makutano-Maua Road_300m from
Makutano Junction.

Name of Company Supervisor: JACOB MUNYAO

Cell Phone of Company Supervisor: …****************…

Email of the Company Supervisor: ****************

Duration: From: 13TH JANUARY 2020 To: 17TH MARCH 2020

No. of weeks: 11 weeks

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Official rubber stamp { }

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DECLARATION

I, LALAI SAMUEL NTONGAI, do hereby declare that this report is my original work done at
Kenya Power and Lighting Company, Meru and to the best of my knowledge, it has not been
submitted for any degree award in any University or Institution.

SIGNED: ………………………….

DATE: 3RD APRIL 2020

LALAI SAMUEL NTONGAI

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I thank the Almighty God for His mighty blessings, protection, guidance, good health, good
progress and wisdom to make me reach this far and be able to accomplish the entire attachment
period.

I also thank senior human resource & admin officer Madam Eunice Kinuthia and Kenya power
managers for granting me the chance to be attached at the company. More gratitude goes to my
supervisor Engineer Jacob Munyao and all other Kenya Power Meru staffs for their guidance,
support and utilization of their time and resources in guiding me to the best of their knowledge to
be a bright and well equipped electrical and electronics engineer in the field of High Power
generation, transmission and distribution from various generation points as far as from Kamburu,
Kindaruma and other to the consumers all around Meru County region.

More appreciation goes to my Institution supervisor Dr. Welma Nyabuto for her guidance and
track of where I have reached step by step.

Special thanks goes to my family, relatives and colleagues for their moral and financial support
throughout the attachment period. It could be very hard for me to achieve without them. May
God’s blessing be upon you.

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Table of Contents
S T U D E N T’S P A R T I C U L A R S ........................................................................................................... 2
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................................. 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................................................................................. 4
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................... 6
Kenya Power Quality Policy. ............................................................................................................... 7
COMPANIES ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE ......................................................................... 7
Kenya Power Board of Directors ..................................................................................................... 8
SUMMARY OF WORK DONE ........................................................................................................................ 9
PROJECTS INVOLVED IN: ........................................................................................................................... 21
WEAK AND STRONG POINT OF THE ATTACHMENT ................................................................................... 26
POINTS OF IMPROVEMENT ....................................................................................................................... 27
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED ....................................................................................................................... 27
DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................................................. 27
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 28
REFERENCE ............................................................................................................................................... 29

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INTRODUCTION

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company PLC (Kenya Power) owns and operates most of the
electricity transmission and distribution system in the country and sells electricity to over 7.5
million consumers. The Company’s vision is to be Kenya’s energy solutions provider of choice
by providing quality and reliable service to power people for better lives and enable the
country’s socio-economic development in a sustainable manner. Its key mandate is to plan for
sufficient electricity generation and transmission capacity to meet demand; build and maintain
the power distribution and transmission network and retail electricity to its customers.

Kenya Power buys electricity from various generation power stations through Kenya Electricity
Generating Company PLC, KenGen which is the leading electricals power generation company
in Kenya producing about 75% of electricity from green sources namely: Hydro (818MW),
Geothermal (706MW), Thermal (706MW) and Wind (26MW). The main stages for the
transmission are shown below.

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The main mission of the company is to power people for better lives by innovatively securing
business sustainability. More so it strives to provide world class products and services that
delight our customers and transform lives as we ensure viability of our business.
The vision of the company is to become the preferred energy solution for business and
individuals and to empower our customers to achieve more and reach their full potential.

Kenya Power has various core values of which it operates on namely;

i. To put customers first as they matter most.
ii. To work together as one team to achieve its goals.
iii. Passionate about powering the nation.
iv. Believe in integrity and delivering on its promises.
v. Strive for excellence in all the work done.
vi. To be accountable to its customers and stakeholders.
Kenya Power Quality Policy.
Kenya Power is committed to provide cost effective, reliable and quality power that delights
customers and betters people’s lives. It uses suitable technologies and innovations to improve
power network and customer service as per the quality management system that complies with
ISO 9001:2015.

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company PLC works hand in hand with other companies to
make its vision, mission and mandate to be accomplished. The companies linked together are:
i. Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen)
ii. Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board (KNEB)
iii. Geothermal Development Company (GDC)
iv. Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO)
v. Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC)
vi. Ministry of Energy
vii. Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA)

COMPANIES ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company is run by various stake holders at different positions
which comprises of:
i. General Managers: These are divided in the following sections:
i. Infrastructure
ii. Network Management
iii. Customer Management( connectivity)
iv. Finance
v. Information and communication Technology
vi. Human Resource and management

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 vii. Business planning
viii. Audit.
ii. Managers: They incorporates;
i. Function managers
ii. Operation managers
iii. Network managers
iii. Chief officers;
i. Functional heads
ii. Cooperation management
iii. Chief Human Resource
iv. Chief engineer technical services
v. Chief design and construction
vi. Chief customer care
vii. Chief supply chain
viii. Chief safety

Kenya Power Board of Directors

The following are the board of directors running Kenya Power and Lighting Company;
a. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim BSc (Civ. Eng.), MSc (Civ. Eng.), R. Eng
Chairman of the Board
b. Ekur Yatani, Cabinet Secretary, Treasury
c. Mr. Bernard Ngugi, Managing Director and CEO
d. Dr. (Eng.) Joseph Njoroge CBS, PhD, MBA, BSc (Eng.), R. Cons. Eng., C. Eng., MIET,
FIEK – Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy
e. Mrs. Brenda Kokoi BA (Dev. Studies), Dip. Ed.- Board member
f. Mr. Kairo Thuo LLB (Hons), CPA (K), CPA (T), ACII - Board member
g. Mr. Wilson Mugung’ei, B.A (Math.), MBA - Board member
h. Mr. Adil Khawaja LL.B (Hons), Dip. (Law) - Board member
i. Mrs. Beatrice Gathirwa B.Com, MBA, CPA(K) Alternate Director, the National Treasury
j. Eng. Isaac Kiva, OGW BSc (Eng.), R. Eng., MIEK Alternate Director, Ministry of
Energy
k. Hon. Zipporah Kering B.Ed, Dip. Ed. - Board member
l. Imelda Bore LL.B, LL.M, Dip(Law), H.Dip (HR), CPS(K), AMCIArb,
m. General Manager, Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary
All these are supported by Regional managers and County Business Managers whom are
distributed to various sections.
The Kenya power and Lighting Company PLC organization is dividend in 10 regions namely:
1. Nairobi North,
2. Nairobi West,
3. Nairobi South,

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 4. North Eastern,
5. North Rift,
6. Central Rift,
7. Coast,
8. Mount Kenya,
9. South Nyanza and
10. West Kenya

All these regions link the networks which are comprised of;
a. Generation sub stations
b. Transmission networks
c. Transmission substations
d. Transmission lines
e. Transmission switching substations
f. Distribution substations

Kenya Power and Lighting Company also has various systems for support in accomplishment of
its mission and mandates which includes:
a. Facility database systems
b. Design and maintenance systems
c. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
d. Distribution systems

SUMMARY OF WORK DONE

In the period of the ten (10) weeks of attachment I was assigned to work in the following
sections;
i. Operation and Maintenance (O & M)
ii. Emergency
iii. E – Plant (Electrical Plants)
iv. Substation
v. Customer service which also included:
a. Meter reading
b. Revenue Collection
c. Revenue Protection Unit (RPU)
d. New connection

i. Operation and Maintenance (O & M)

This is the section which involves electrical transmission and distribution periodic maintenance
and installation of faulty, rotten or fallen poles. This section involved Live-Line Operation and

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Maintenance of Power transmission and Distribution Networks. Operation and maintenance in
this section involved;
 Inspection of transmission or distribution lines from the main distribution transformer to
the terminal consumers connected to the low voltage lines,
 Replacement of fallen High Tension High voltage poles,
 Replacement of faulty Surge diver protection devices
 Replacement of faulty transformers,
 Cutting down of trees and clearing way leaves
 Re-sagging of loose conductors.
Live-line working also deals with maintenance of electrical equipment, often operating at
high voltage, while the equipment is energized. It is operated under an initial award of a working
permit from a qualified competent person assigned to issue the permit. He or she should be
trained, pass a qualification test, should have a certain working experience and must be approved
by the Company before doing the job. Before commencing of any daily work there is a work
instructions given which may have been scheduled or arisen from the customers due to power
failure in certain sections. All these work instructions are analyzed and given to the team leaders
of each team. The condition of the weather should be favorable since live line working can’t be
done well under rainy conditions due to sliding while climbing poles. Also if the wind force is
too much it is inappropriate to perform live line working. If there is thunder and lightning, snow,
hail, rain or fog, live line working is prohibited. If sudden weather changes which may endanger
personal and equipment safety are experienced, it is necessary to stop working immediately,
evacuate the people, restore the equipment to its normal condition or take temporary security
measures. It is also necessary to investigate the working site by checking whether the distribution
lines meets live line working conditions. Various tools are used in this section like Operation and
maintenance vehicles, live line testers, concrete pole and wooden Climbers, Multi-meters,
Insulation resistance tester, Come along, ropes and Personal Protective equipment like overall,
head gear, gloves, safety boots.

Safety Measures
 If the line is de‐energized suddenly during live line working, workers should still regard
the line as energized. The team leader should receive a work permit number and contact
the distribution network dispatching or operation and maintenance department as soon as
possible. Dispatching personnel or operation and maintenance personnel on duty should
not provide forced energization before making contact with the team leader.
 If any equipment failure is identified, the team leader should stop work immediately,
evacuate people, and contact the operation and maintenance personnel on duty.
 Common Multiple Earthing (CME) should be connected prior to the point of isolation to
prevent any live kickback and also to protect the personnel working on it.

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Pole Replacements.
The various pole types used for electrical transmission and distribution used are the towers,
concrete poles and wooden poles. However, wooden poles were tested by sounding a pole using
a metallic rod and those detected with a hollow part were replaced. Others are faulty by essence
of being rotten and most of them fallen hence creating short circuiting hence breaking the fuses
or even the isolators. Due to the periodic braking of the rotten/fallen wooden poles, these are
now replaced by the concrete poles which are steel reinforced hence they are long lasting and can
withstand various environmental conditions.

Earthing and Grounding

Earthing is the process of protecting parts of electrical apparatus such as metallic covering of
metals, transformers, earth terminal of socket cables, high voltage transmission lines supporting
bars like cross arms that do not carry current to the earth. To earth can be done by connection of
the neutral point of a power supply system to the earth so as to avoid or minimize danger during
discharge of electrical energy.
Earthing is done by connecting the electrical transformers casing earthing point to ground,
connecting of all metallic parts to ground using earth wire, connection of pole support using stay
wire and also connection of High voltage transmission lines to surge diverters to ground the
excess current when in need. Earthing is advisable since it helps to;
a. Avoid risk of fire as a result of earth leakage current through unwanted path
b. Protect human lives as well as provide safety to electrical devices and appliances
from leakage current.
c. Avoid electric shock
d. Protect Electric system and buildings form lighting.
e. Serve as a return conductor in electric traction system and communication.
f. Avoid the risk of fire in electrical installation systems.
Earth resistivity of various parts is not equal and at some point its higher or lower in others hence
causing need to use very long earth rods and also multiple earth rods maintain quality earthing
system. Various factors to be considered that affects earth’s resistivity are:
i. Soil Resistivity
This is the resistance of soil to the passage of electric current. The earth resistance value of an
earth pit depends on soil resistivity. It is the resistance of the soil to the passage of electric
current. This varies from one soil type to another. It depends on the physical composition of the
soil, moisture, dissolved salts, grain size and distribution, seasonal variation and current
magnitude.
ii. Moisture
Moisture has a great influence on resistivity value of soil. The resistivity of a soil can be
determined by the quantity of water held by the soil and resistivity of the water itself.
Conduction of electricity in soil is through water.

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 iii. Soil Condition
Different soil conditions give different soil resistivity. Most of the soils are very poor conductors
of electricity when they are completely dry. Soil resistivity is measured in ohm-meters. Soil
plays a significant role in determining the performance of electrode. Soil with low resistivity is
highly corrosive. If soil is dry then soil resistivity value will be very high. If soil resistivity is
high, earth resistance of electrode will also be high.
iv. Dissolved salts
Pure water is poor conductor of electricity. Resistivity of soil depends on resistivity of water
which in turn depends on the amount and nature of salts dissolved in it. Small quantity of salts in
water reduces soil resistivity by 80%. Common salt is most effective in improving conductivity
of soil though it corrodes metal and hence discouraged.
v. Climate Condition
Increase or decrease of moisture content determines the increase or decrease of soil
resistivity. Thus in dry whether resistivity will be very high and wet weather the resistivity will
be low.
vi. Physical Composition
Different soil composition gives different average resistivity. Based on the type of soil, the
resistivity of clay soil may be in the range of 4 – 150 ohm-meter, whereas for rocky or gravel
soils, the same may be well above 1000 ohm-meter.
vii. Area Available
Single electrode rod or strip or plate will not achieve the desired resistance alone. If a number of
electrodes could be installed and interconnected the desired resistance could be achieved. The
distance between the electrodes must be equal to the driven depth to avoid overlapping of area of
influence. Each electrode, therefore, must be outside the resistance area of the other.
viii. Obstructions
The soil may look good on the surface, but there may be obstructions below a few feet like virgin
rock. In that event resistivity will be affected. Obstructions like concrete structure near about the
pits will affect resistivity. If the earth pits are close by, the resistance value will be high.
ix. Current Magnitude
A current of significant magnitude and duration will cause significant drying condition in soil
and thus increase the soil resistivity.

Earthing of Transformers
Transformers hold relatively high currents and thus may experience acute power surges and
hence needs proper eathing for their safety and testing using the earth ground tester or megger
below. The transformer metal parts are earthed and also the neutral conductor are connected to
the earthing points at the transformer termination point with multiple long earth rods. A one span
earthing is done by use of a protective multiple earthing and also after four spans eathing is done
across the distribution line.

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 ii. Emergency

In this section all incoming and urgent requests and complains are recorded in this section. The
place encompasses of qualified staff whom handle customers well either face to face or even by
receiving of telephone calls called directly to customer care emergence desk. All requests
received are recorded down together with the details of the clients, type of fault and also the
place at which the fault is experienced for faster tracing and restoration. Then after the recording,
the operation and maintenance team are given the list of the recorded requests for them to work
on and if any request is given when they are in the field they are directed accordingly. The
customer service short message number of 97771 also was used.

iii. E-Plant (Electrical Plant)

This is the section which deals with the following sections in a Kenya Power and Lighting
company with interconnection to the generation stations.
 Maintenance of substations;
This is done by checking of well grounding of earth wire conductors in each and every tower and
replacing the faulty ones, addition of ballast in places where it isn’t enough, protection, isolation
and energizing of substations with collaboration with control manager.

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  Maintenance and testing of power transformers,
Transformer is a very important equipment in the transmission and distribution since it is
involved in core activity of stepping up and stepping down of voltages to reduce or increase
voltages. Transformers are maintained periodically for better performance and most of the
activities we did include:
o Checking the oil level in the oil cap so that it doesn’t drop below a fixed limit
and hence avoid damage due to it.
o Check for any leakages detected.

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 o Cleaning of the outer section using clean clothing and thinner for proper
cooling and prevention of short circuit due to current passing though dirt to
other terminals and to maintain the required terminal resistance.
o Cleaning the breathing holes in the silica gel breather to ensure proper
breathing action at all times.
o Insulation test of the transformer high voltage conductors (HV-HV), low
voltage conductors (LV-LV, LV-N) and love voltage to earth (LV-E).
o Inspection of faulty transformer earthing and fixing it.
o Inspection and testing of surge arrestors and replacing faulty ones.
o Diagnosing of transformers and rewinding of transformer faulty coils,
Power Transformers are used to transfer electrical energy from one circuit to another through
electromagnetic induction. They are used either to step up or step down voltage levels. A
transformer is made of several different parts that function in their own different ways to
enhance the overall functioning of a transformer. These include core, windings, insulating
materials, transformer oil, tap changer, conservator, breather, cooling tubes, Buchholz Relay and
explosion vent. The core, windings, insulating materials and transformer oil are seen in almost
every transformer, while the other components are seen in transformers that are more than 50
KVA. Transformers have the following parts;
a. Core
The core of the transformer is used to support the windings. It is made of soft iron to reduce eddy
current loss and Hysteresis loss, and provides low reluctance path to the flow of magnetic flux.
The diameter of a transformer’s core is directly proportional to copper loss and inversely
proportional to iron loss.
b. Transformer Windings
Windings consist of several copper coil turns bundled together, each bundle connected to form a
complete winding. Windings can be based either on the input-output supply or on the voltage
range. Windings that are based on supply are classified into primary and secondary windings,
meaning the windings to which the input and output voltage is applied respectively. On the other
hand, windings based on voltage range can be classified into high voltage and low voltage
windings. These can be of copper material or aluminum even though aluminum types are not
mostly used due to efficiency.
c. Insulating materials
Insulating materials like papers and card boards are used to isolate primary and secondary
windings from each other as well as the transformer core. These windings are made of copper
due to high conductivity and ductility. High conductivity minimizes the amount of copper
needed and minimizes losses. Moreover, high ductility results in easy bending of conductors into
tight winding around the core that also minimizes the amount of copper and volume of winding.

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 d. Transformer oil
The transformer oil insulates as well as cools the core and coil assembly. The core and windings
of the transformer must be completely immersed in the oil that normally contains hydrocarbon
mineral oils.
e. Conservator
The conservator is an airtight metallic cylindrical drum fitted above the transformer that
conserves the transformer oil. It is vented at the top and is filled only half with the oil to allow
expansion and contraction during temperature variations. However the main tank of the
transformer with which the conservator is connected is completely filled with the oil through a
pipeline.
f. Breather
The breather is a cylindrical container filled with silica gel, which is used to keep the air that
enters the tank moisture-free. This is because the insulating oil when reacts with moisture can
affect the insulation and cause internal faults, which is why it is a must to keep the air free from
moisture. In the breather, when the air passes through the silica gel, the moisture contents are
absorbed by the silica crystals.
g. Tap changer
To balance voltage variations within the transformer, tap changers are used. There are two types
of tap changers – on load and off load. In on load tap changers, tapping can be changed without
isolating transformer from the supply, while in off load, the transformer needs to be disconnected
from the supply.
h. Cooling tubes
As the name suggests, cooling tubes are used to cool the transformer oil. The circulation of oil
within the transformer may be natural or forced. In the case of natural circulation, when the oil
temperature rises, the hot oil naturally moves to the top and cold oil moves down, while in case
of forced circulation, an eternal pump is used.
i. Buchholz Relay
Placed over the connecting pipe that runs from the main tank to conservator tank, the Buchholz
Relay senses the faults occurring within the transformer. It operates by the gases emitted due to
decomposition of transformer oil during internal faults. Thus, this device is used to sense and in
turn protect the transformer from internal faults.
j. Explosion vent
The boiling hot oil from the transformer is expelled during internal faults through the explosion
vent to avoid explosion of the transformer. This is generally placed above the level of the
conservatory tank.
Understanding all these parts of a transformer help one to understand transformers and their
functions much better. With a wide variety of transformers available, one needs to know which
transformer type is the most suitable for the task to be utilized for.

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  Battery Maintenance
Transmission and distribution substations uses system batteries for backup voltages for control
systems and protection relays. These batteries needs to be checked and maintained periodically
by:
o Checking of acid level.
o Ensure the battery cell terminals are clean.
o Testing and recording the voltages and specific gravity for each cell
o Record the charging voltage and current.
o Keeping the records safe for future reference.

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  Transformer phase balancing
This was done by testing the voltages of each phase with respect to neutral across Red, Yellow
and Blue conductors and if their voltages differ much, phase balancing is done. Phase balancing
is done by disconnecting some of the consumers from the overloaded phase with respect to
neutral and transferring them to the line with minimal customers until there is a phase balance
across the lines.
 H pole transformer testing and balancing. Testing of Earth leakage and also earth
continuity across various point around the H pole.

iv. Substations

These are the stations which are used for stepping up of voltages from 11000 (11kv) to 132000
(132 kV) or to 220000 (220kV) or to 400000 (400kV) volts. This is achieved by use of single
phase auto transformers which are connected separately across each Live line/phase since using a
three phase 11kv to 132kv/220kv/400kv transformer is large, very heavy to transport and also
expensive. In these step up sub stations, they encompasses the interconnection of the various
generation power plants to the national grid where all power is controlled and protection devices
interlinked through the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. The
generation power sub stations encompasses of voltage and current transformers for voltage and
current measurements respectively and also for supply of low voltage for supply of the control
devices. They also have isolators for switching on and off of the high voltages, control relays and
modules, tertiary transformers for supply of control voltages and for standby voltage supply.
These auto transformers also are maintained periodically by carrying out of various transformer
tests like winding ration, earth leakage resistance test, earth capacitance test, insulation tests.
Cleaning or tap changers and replacing of oil in the tap changer as shown below.

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Page 19 of 29
Other substations are used for stepping down of voltages from high voltages to low as from
220kV/132kV to 66kv or to 33kv/11kv. In these substations various maintenance are done like
checking of oil in the conservators, checking of the Buchholz relay & overcurrent relay if they
are working well and also checking the situation of the SCADA control and also the tap changer
conditions, checking of control room, reconnecting of the automatic recloser, checking the
automatic voltage regulators, measuring of the voltages, power and monthly bills to know what
has been consumed and the condition on the consumptions.

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 v. Customer Service.

This is the section which encompasses five sections namely; Meter reading, Customer Service
desk, Revenue Collection, Revenue Protection Unit (RPU), new connection. Meter reading
involves going to every premise following the transformer distribution radius and reading the
monthly power consumption reading for billing. This also involves inspection of bypassed
meters, faulty meters and those which haven’t been and with high bills and disconnecting them
to spear head payments. This is what lend to the introduction of the prepaid meters. Customer
Service desk involves checking of customers electricity bills for payments, answering various
questions asked by customers and also directing them accordingly to various service delivery
desks. Revenue Collection is the section for billing of electricity used and charging for
payments by the clients. Revenue Protection unit is the section for checking of stolen meters,
bypassed meter, illegal connections of electricity and also check ups of faulty meters which have
been spoilt or blown off in the period of usage. New connection section involves the connection
of supply to new clients whom do apply through the service desk, their requests are reviewed,
they pay and after which way leaves are granted and commissioning is done through the
installation of service cables and meters or if electrical poles are needed they are supplied.

PROJECTS INVOLVED IN:

The attachment period was divided into various stages to enable cover all the sections in the
Kenya Power and lighting company. For every two or four weeks the section were subdivided
for each section to help cover all the sections to help in total learning and experience. The
following sections were covered during my attachment period:
i. Operation and Maintenance:
In this section, I was involved in Kianjai_Kinoru and Nkubu Feeder where by operation and
maintenance was done for a period of four weeks. In this section we did the following tasks;
I. Carrying of replacement poles from Kinoru substation feeder to various destination
points like Kianjai, Mikinduri, Nkubu, Isiolo and replacing of fallen/rotten poles by
drilling 6 feet hole or digging using scoopers.
II. Replacement of faulty transformers which have been deemed faulty by the electrical plant
section through combined test and requests for replacement. This was done by removing
of old transformer and replacing with new ones and replacing the earth wires, surge
diverters, cross arms and cross bars, conductors, reconnection of the High voltage line to
the transformers with the right configurations of R-Y-B and also reconnection of the low
voltage conductors.
III. Re-sagging of loose low voltage conductors and disconnection of short circuited
conductors which may have caused by strong winds or fallen trees or tree branches.
IV. Cutting of trees along the way leaves and also clearing of bushes.
V. Doing of proper earthing of the destroyed H pole earth wires.

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 VI. Replacement of blown surge diverters.
VII. Manual reclosing of the automatic reclosers when faulty.
VIII. Inspection of Transformer distribution line to check for faulty sections if any.
IX. Feeder maintenance once there is shutdown.
X. Trace maintenance; this generally involved clearing the way leave as well as doing
physical inspection of the distribution networks. An electricity way leave is a statutory
right which gives the license holder the power to install its electricity lines and associated
equipment on, over or under private land, to keep the electricity line there and to have
access to that land for the purposes of inspecting, maintaining, repairing or removing the
electricity line or equipment. This included maintenance of tree and shrub growth,
conductor sagging, rotten poles, faulty earthing, missing surge arrestors, blown expulsion
switches, stay tension, cross arms position and alignment and checking if insulators have
been damaged and replacing them.
ii. Emergency Section
This section took three days of which I interacted with various systems namely Compliant
Management system, Incidence management system, process of registering complains to the
system, assigning to team leaders, interruption, monitoring and restoration of complains in the
system when done. Also, this section involved receiving customers’ requests and responding to
them within a day through respective team leaders in that particular area. More so, delayed
prepaid token numbers could be tracked from the system and the customers via phone call away.

iii. Substation
In this section, transformer balancing was done where there was periodic shutdowns or periodic
fuse failures due to overloading. Also inspection of low voltage lines could be done to draw its
line up and also to check if there are sections which requires re-sagging, or installation of cross
arms.
iv. E-Plant
Electrical plant section took three weeks where by the following projects were done;
 Testing of transformer winding characteristics, HV-HV winding resistance using
Megger, LV-LV winding resistance, LV-Earth winding resistance. If the winding
resistance was close to zero or had a value less than 1 meggar ohm it was deemed
faulty due either to oil break down hence reducing the insulation resistance, or short
circuited winding.
 Cleaning of back up battery stations in various sub stations,
 Recording of power wattage usage for various substations for billing like Isiolo,
Kinoru, Kianjai, Imenti and Nkubu substation feeders.
 Reinstalling of earthing conductors at Embu substation.

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 Maintenance of autotransformers of 11kV/132kV and 220kV at Kamburu and
Kindaruma Power station which is done once every year. Also the following tests
were done
o Insulation Resistance Testing; This was done using a megger to test the
quality of the insulation of the transformer windings. The test was done by
injecting a 5kV voltage actross the autotransformer tertiary winding and main
winding and with respect to the earth and the resistance readings recorded.
The tank and core should always be grounded when this test is performed
and that each winding is short-circuited at the bushing terminals.
o Resistance Testing; this is done several hours after a transformer has stopped
conducting current when it reaches the same temperature as its surroundings.
The purpose of this test is to check for differences in resistance between
windings. This test ensures that each circuit is properly wired properly and
that all connections are tight. Resistance testing is performed using a
transformer ohmmeter.
o Polarity Testing; this is done to prevent short circuiting.
o Transformer Turns Ratio (TTR) testing; this is used to make sure that the
ratio between the windings of the primary and secondary coils follow the

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 proper specifications. This test ensures that the transformer will provide the
proper step-up or step down in voltage.
o Transformer Oil Tests; this is done to ensure that it works for specified
standards. Testing standards and procedures are defined by various
international standards. The oil that provides insulation and cooling
properties for a transformer should be tested before the transformer is
energized, and periodically as a part of a regular maintenance schedule. It is
generally done with a portable testing unit which applies test voltage that
increases in intensity until a breakdown point of the oil is detected. An oil
sample test can detect several things on a transformer like; Moisture content,
Power factor, Acid number, Dielectric breakdown or Interfacial tension. If
the sample fails to give the right specifications the oil is replaced with new
oil of best specifications. Oil tests are very useful for determining the
condition of the insulation and the oil. Based on these results, a maintenance
program for the transformer can be established. Transformer oil testing is
important to:
 Determine essential electrical properties of transformer oil
 Identify if a certain oil is suitable for future use
 Detect whether regeneration or filtration is needed
 Reduce oil costs and enhance component life
 Prevent untimely failures and maximize safety
 In addition, the following maintenance was undertaken to the autotransformers;
cleaning all the bushings of the auto-transformers for red, yellow and blue phases
with only soft cotton cloth done annually, tap changers cleaning for the three auto-
transformers and replacing the oil. Cleaning of the control switches and relays along
with their circuits, Remote Tap Changer Control Panel and Relay. Checking of
proper functionality of Buchholz relays, cooling system like oil pumps, air fans
transformer fins. Cleaning the bushings of the transformer using soft cotton cloths
and checking for any cracks.
 Retesting and servicing of protection relays at Kamburu Protection section.

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 Representation of circuit breakers in high voltage transmission.

v. Customer Service
This section took two weeks and involved servicing customers’ requests at the customer care
desks, checking customers’ electricity bills and costs to be paid. Servicing of new connection
requests and issuing of supply forms.
In this section, new connections recording also was done for single phase and three phase supply.
Fully filled electricity supply forms details issued were incorporated in the Integrated Customer
Management System (InCMS) for easy tracking and processing at various stages up to
commissioning and tracking of meter usage. The system is also used for querying bills, confirm
meter readings and follow up of new application
More so, checking of various electricity meter billing record and updating to the system every
month, disconnecting of bypassed meters and stolen meters whose details don’t match with the
customer’s identity details.
More so, in this section installation of new connections was done and activation of meters which
involved:
I. Installation of Service cable
II. Installation or single phase of three phase meters
III. Activation of the meter,
IV. Commissioning by checking 865 and ok button
V. Guidance of the customer on how to load token.

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WEAK AND STRONG POINT OF THE ATTACHMENT

The attachment period helped in clear understanding and internalizing of the content covered in
class theory work when practically performed. There is a lot of experience and expertise gained
in the place attached especially in a company like Kenya Power which has a lot of sections to
learn and also to work on. Kenya power staff community are people whom have the will to offer,
guide, teach, and also support one to learn more and more and also to pursue greater heights. It
has qualified personnel whom understands the safety and precautions of working environment to
minimize accidents, power failures and power black outs. Everyone also takes it as a mandate to
secure everyone by following the right safety protocols to be involved especially when
energizing a line or isolating a line. More so, Kenya power personnel strongly works to achieve
its core vision and mission of supplying power always across the country and also to other
countries in future. There is good collaboration and communication systems to help in safety,
increased adherence to levels of supervision, good team work and communication mechanisms.

However, some weak sections were realized which could be worked upon to improve the
standards of the company;
i. Slowed down actualization of automation to help in control and reduce a lot of
loses. This can be done by incorporating SCADA system to all lines even LV
voltages or looking for a cheaper system for electricity control.
ii. Installation of faulty diagnosis systems in the line to be able to track even when
at remote places instead of doing manual tracing.
iii. High rates of electricity power stealing through bypassing of meters or even
meter disconnections and theft which can be minimized by incorporation of
tracking systems to show when the meter are working properly, their location
and even which can help in tracing when stolen.
iv. Reduced supply of electrical supply and meter registrations which leads to
increased rates of electricity theft and direct connections of supply and loss of
meters hence leading to increased losses which can be restored by thorough
inspection and protection of meters and also through faster generation of new
meters to increase the number of connected customers.
v. Increase of qualified personnel to minimize breakages and loses of equipment
maintenance and replacements.
vi. Lack of award of stipend to attaches at least to support them in the period of
attachment which may decreases their morale in the period of work.

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 POINTS OF IMPROVEMENT

The Kenya Power and lighting Company needs to upgrade in various sections to increase its
output. The following are the key areas to improve;
i. More concern to be put in the revenue and protection unit to increase the profits of the
company and reduce loses all through.
ii. Increased rate of processing of new meters and connections to make all personnel
connected.
iii. Inspection, tracking and tracing of stolen meters and recovery rendering the person
involved to law and order to curve the rate of theft of meter stealing and stealing of
electrical supply.
iv. Increase in sensitization of staff and also creating awareness on the betterment of
electricity usage.
v. Vandalism of electrical transformers for sale of copper conductors and metallic parts.
This renders to increased losses to the company by replacing with new ones, Power
outages, funds wasted on repairs rather than new projects, loss of revenue and equipment
damage, Supply insecurity affecting maintenance, Poor supply reliability, Loss of lives,
Diversion of effort & resource away from core business, Increased project costs and
indirect costs like legal, poor image, loss of perishables and loss of business

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

Since quality work comes with some disadvantages in the line of duty some of them were;
i. More work to be done with reduced workmanship since many clients wants to be
served abruptly even though the manpower is not enough. This led to delayed
electrical failure restoration.
ii. Few number of transportation means or drivers hence delaying the work to be done
and other times leading to lack of reaching the set planned places of work.
iii. Lack of provision of stipends to attaches leading to tough periods encountered
leading to lack of enough support financially.
iv. Shortage of equipment to be used in most of the times hence leading to sharing the
very few equipment available thus slowing work as well as making other to be
idle.
v. Time keeping and management was not well catered for since most of time was
wasted in preparation and duty allocation.

DISCUSSION

Industrial attachment is mostly important since it opens up various opportunities for the students
and also helps to link on what is needed by the student to be understood more in the real industry
environment. This also helps the actualization of putting what tstudents learn in the course work

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into skills and putting them into practice. Various companies that the students are attached to in
the course of the studies become starting points for looking for jobs when they finalize their
course and graduate. Hence, its important for all students to attend industrial attachment so that
to produce qualified graduates whom will be productive to the country.

CONCLUSION

This session was very important to my specialization since it opened my way of visualizing high
voltages and as well as low voltage. It also opened up the understanding of how important safety
measures are and the various procedures of which they are supposed to be followed. The section
was well set touching all the field across the company and it challenged me to examine the
values of the organization involved in the experience and to assess my education on how it
relates to the Industrial Attachment. More benefits earned are exploration of research areas
where had loopholes in transmission like wireless transmission and remote controls, career
interests, gained new skills, gained work experience, developed a professional network,
understood workplace expectations and objectives to achieve in future if I work Kenya Power or
another company selling same products, got introduced to fellow engineers, employers and made
a solid network.

A pose at switching and protection room at Kamburu Power Substation. Caroline Muiga
(left), Lalai Samuel Ntongai (centre) and Protection engineer Sos Tengwel (right).

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 REFERENCE

1. https://www.kplc.co.ke
2. https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/download-center/books-and-guides/power-
substations/scada-kenyan-grid
3. https://www.epra.co.ke

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