Developing a web-based Gis application for mapping the electrical grid network in Kenya case study: Nakuru County

Abstract

The Kenya Power sector comprises of the following main agencies: Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KENGEN), Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO), Kenya Power and Lighting Company and the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) which are mandated to generate, transmit and distribute electricity. A look into the roles played by these specific agencies shows that there are some overlapping responsibilities. For instance, Kenya Power manages and maintains the electric network that is built by REA and portions of the transmission network. Each of the aforementioned agencies, independently collect and store spatial and non-spatial data pertaining the electrical infrastructure under their mandate in databases that are not accessible to other players in the sector. Considering how intertwined the functions of these agencies are, data collection efforts are usually duplicated leading to wastage of resources. It is therefore, important for all the data pertaining this infrastructure to be visualized and mapped on a platform such as a web GIS application since different datasets can be integrated and made accessible to users in various geographic locations provided they have an internet connection. Access to comprehensive data through a web GIS platform will help to consolidate data collection efforts, give a better view of the spatial distribution of the infrastructure, support better decision making and electrification planning. This project execution involved combining GIS database design and web development using open source resources. The following 3 main tasks were undertaken: User needs assessment, Database design and Web GIS development. The User needs assessment enabled the requirements of the potential users to be considered during the Database design. The Web GIS development was based on GeoDjango which is a python based geographic web framework that supports the PostgreSQL database that was used to store the electric grid data for this project. HTML, CSS and JavaScript were employed in building the web GIS application interface. The resulting web GIS platform not only visualized and mapped the electric grid data but is also equipped with interactive functions that enable data querying, data download and printing of maps. Map controls for geocoding, zooming in or out, drawing tools, area and distance measuring tools are also included. The web GIS application was deployed online using a virtual server provided by Digital Ocean and can be accessed through http://167.99.203.86 with the credentials given in Chapter Four of this report.