NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya Power has launched a wildlife protection initiative aimed at reducing animal electrocutions and improving electricity reliability by retrofitting sections of the national grid with specialised wildlife-friendly protective covers.
The project, announced on Thursday, is being implemented through a five-year partnership between the Kenya Power Institute of Energy Studies and Research (IESR) and US-based Kaddas Enterprises. The initiative will focus on wildlife corridors identified as hotspots for animal electrocutions and power disruptions.
According to Kenya Power, wildlife-related incidents remain a major contributor to electricity interruptions across the country. The utility estimates that electrocution of animals and human-related activities account for about 50 per cent of power outages, with wildlife contact alone responsible for roughly 30 per cent of those disruptions.
“Wildlife is part of our national heritage, which heavily drives our tourism sector. Equally, Kenya Power’s role in energy distribution is a key component of our country’s economic growth,” said Engineer Henry Pwani, Head of Research at IESR.
“We aspire to ensure peaceful coexistence between nature and the energy infrastructure. Thus, at IESR, our focus is to develop solutions that support this co-existence and enhance business efficiency,” he added.
The project seeks to protect birds of prey and other wildlife species that frequently come into contact with power infrastructure. Kenya Power says the intervention will also enhance grid stability and improve service delivery to customers.
“By safeguarding wildlife, we are also improving power supply reliability to give a better experience for our customers. This is a win-win situation for the environment and our business,” Pwani said.
The pilot phase has commenced at Soysambu Conservancy, located about 130 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. The conservancy is a critical habitat for several raptor species, including the Augur Buzzard and the Martial Eagle, which often use power poles and lines as vantage points for hunting and perching.
Kenya Power noted that the Lanet–Naivasha interconnector, which passes through the conservancy, has experienced repeated outages linked to the electrocution of birds and larger animals such as giraffes.
“This line serves a big part of Nakuru County, and by undertaking this project here, we are looking forward to picking lessons that will be helpful as the project is rolled out in other hotspot areas across the country,” said Wesley Kerich, Kenya Power’s County Business Manager for Nakuru.
Beyond installing protective covers, the partnership includes a capacity-building programme for Kenya Power technical staff. The training aims to strengthen awareness of wildlife conservation considerations in power infrastructure design and create internal champions for biodiversity protection.
