Economy

Kenya Power defies solar heating rules

solar panels

Solar panels on a rooftop. Regulations demand that homes and commercial buildings whose hot water needs exceed 100 litres per day must install solar heaters. PHOTO | FILE | COURTESY

The energy regulator has faulted Kenya Power for defying regulations that bar the electricity distributor from connecting new commercial buildings that have failed to install solar water heaters.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) reckons that only a fraction of properties built over the past two years have complied with the solar heating regulations that took effect in 2012.

“Less than one per cent of buildings in the country have complied with the regulations,” Pavel Oimeke, the ERC director for renewable energy told the Business Daily last week.

“A bigger majority of new buildings lack the solar heating systems but are connected to electricity in contravention of the law. This is despite assurance from Kenya Power to observe the rule,” he added.

ERC has directed the power distributor not to approve new electricity connections to buildings that have not complied with the regulations. The directive is in line with energy-saving rules that were gazetted in 2012 requiring certain commercial and residential buildings tapping power from the national grid to install solar water heaters.

The directive is aimed at promoting use of renewable energy and reducing over-reliance on the national grid. ERC says Kenya Power has ignored the law, exposing its executives to a fine not exceeding Sh1 million or a jail term of one year or both.
“An electric power distributor or supplier shall not provide electricity supply to premises where a solar water heating system has not been installed in accordance with the regulations,” states a legal notice dated April 4, 2012.

Kenya Power did not comment in this story despite phone calls and text messages sent to its CEO Ben Chumo. The regulations require homes and commercial buildings whose hot water needs exceed 100 litres per day to install solar heaters. Premises that existed before the law took effect have until 2017 to install the solar kits.

Kenya’s demand for power has over the years grown at a faster pace than supply, piling pressure on the existing infrastructure. The energy regulator reckons that the solar kits will help conserve energy and slash electricity bills for households and premises by up to 20 per cent every year.

READ: Want affordable power? Solar is the way to go for you

But property developers have cited prohibitive upfront costs for solar heaters as a damper to increased uptake. The cost of a complete solar water heater system for domestic use ranges between Sh125,000 and Sh150,000 per unit, while that for commercial buildings is between Sh600,000 and Sh2 million depending on water handling capacity, according to quotations by Powerpoint EA Ltd, a dealer of solar kits.

The energy guidelines also state that a contractor or technician shall only install a solar water heating system after being licensed by ERC.

Mr Oimeke said majority of the specialists in the markets had yet to receive ERC’s nod to install the solar kits, presenting loopholes for shoddy work by unqualified craftsmen. “We are stepping up a campaign to prosecute those who are in the market without our validation,” he said.

The energy regulator has also made it mandatory for large power users to conduct an energy audit once every three years to troubleshoot and seal loopholes for leakages. The deadline for this requirement lapses in September 2015.

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