The construction of Sangoro power plant, which is estimated to cost Sh3.5 billion, is set to begin in October.

The plant is meant to boost power production for the Sondu Miriu project by 20 megawatts. Tenders, which will be awarded in a month's time, are currently being evaluated, the project engineer, Alfred Abiero, said.

"After the tenders are awarded, a meeting will be held to come up with the project's schedule and if all goes well the work could begin in October," he said.

The Sangoro power plant will be constructed just after the Sondu Miriu plant, and instead of releasing water from the system, it will be used to turn an additional turbine to produce power.

Other plans in the pipeline include construction of a dam that will double the power generated from Sondu Miriu.

Mr Abiero said that an improved design of the dam will eventually be developed.

However, experts said it would be difficult to construct the dam because donors do not support such projects due to heavy displacement of people.

Double output

On completion, the dam will double current electricity output to 120 megawatts.

There will be full time power production at optimum capacity since water will be stored for drier periods.

The Sondu Miriu plant, which was built at a cost of Sh15.8 billion, started operating on March 27, and injects 60 megawatts of electricity into the national power grid.

Meanwhile, the local community is set to benefit from a Sh100 million water supply project. 10 boreholes will be sunk on either side of the river.

Mr Abiero said a piping network would be installed to enable the boreholes serve Kabondo and Nyakach residents.

It is expected to be ready within two months. "Since water has been diverted, there is decreased flow along the river, and these boreholes are expected to boost supply," he added.

Divert water

This is in addition to seven watering points that have been constructed along the river channel, complete with pumping equipment.

The power plant diverts water from the main river channel through a 6.2 kilometre tunnel into a surface pipeline to the power station where it turns turbines to generate electricity.

The water returns to River Sondu approximately 13km downstream.

Construction work of the Sondu Miriu power plant started in 1999.

The plant was one of the three projects proposed by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in its 1985 master plan.

The others, according to the project's briefing paper, were Magwagwa Multipurpose Dam Scheme with a 120 megawatt capacity and the Kano Plain Irrigation Scheme, targeting up to 14,390 hectares.