Electricity Transmission Infrastructure’s Vulnerability and Climate Change Resilience in Kajiado County, Kenya

This study explores the factors affecting the resilience and vulnerability to climate change of electricity transmission infrastructure in Kajiado County, Kenya. The study adopted ordinal regression and Spearman correlation to analyse quantitative data. Qualitative insights from sector experts were analysed using content and descriptive analysis. GIS-based analysis was applied to determine the intervening aspect of topography and terrain in assessing the level of exposure to impact to climate hazards. The primary variables in the study were extreme temperature and rainfall, the intervening variables being technical, environmental, and socioeconomic factors and the prevailing policy and legal framework. Vulnerability and resilience were the study’s dependent variables. The findings indicated that while climate factors such as extreme temperature and rainfall are generally assumed to be critical, our findings reveal that they are not statistically significant predictors of infrastructure vulnerability in this context. Instead, socioeconomic variables and regulatory policies emerge as key enablers of resilience. Insights from industry practitioners highlight real-world operational disruptions including equipment overheating, line sag, flooding, and soil erosion. These findings suggest that vulnerability arises not solely from environmental exposure but from a confluence of technical limitations, developmental gaps, and inadequate policy implementation. The study calls for a comprehensive resilience strategy that integrates scientific evidence with practical field realities.