Operational Readiness Study Reports 2021

Following the resolutions of the 14^th Council of Ministers’ meeting, held in Entebbe – Uganda on 21^st February 2019 to advance implementation of the 10-Year EAPP Strategic Plan and continue support of the ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with the EAPP Interconnection Code (IC),  Through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) – World Bank – executed, Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and the World Bank (WB) engaged a consortium of consultants, led by a consultant called “TRACTEBEL”, to provide consultancy service for carrying out Operational Readiness (OR) study for EAPP. Other consultants forming the consortium are “EA Energy Analyses” and “Energinet.DK”.

The consultants commenced the study in September 2019. According to the ToR, the consultancy, among other things, involved carrying out the following four major tasks:

Task 1

Provision of technical advice and options to EAPP and member utilities in carrying out respective Interconnection code (IC) compliance programs;

Task 2

Provision of technical advice to provide options to EAPP and member utilities as they prepare an updated regional power balance statement;

Task 3

Provision of technical support to EAPP member utilities in carrying out training related to Interconnection Code Compliance (IC) program; and

Task 4

Power system analysis.

All those deliverables above were developed in close collaboration with the EAPP Technical Committees as guided and resolved by the 14^th CoM, the Steering Committee to ensure support and commitment of the Technical Committees to lead the development of interconnected operations and regional market.

The Consultant completed his assignment on 30^th June 2021 and submitted final reports to EAPP General Secretariat.  

The following excerpt from the study report summarizes the main recommendations applicable to the entire EAPP.

• Operationalize the EAPP Grid Coordination Unit (GCU)
• Frequency control is the single most important aspect of operating an interconnected system
• Establish control areas and nominate control area operators
• Establish synchronous area committees to ensure a coordinated frequency control
• Assess the performance of power plants
• Essential planning committee activities for operational readiness