A thermal power plant under construction at the Coast. PHOTO | GIDEON MAUNDU
What you need to know:
The country added 138 megawatts (MW) to the grid last year compared to 395 MW in 2014.
Demand for electricity grew at a slower pace of 5.5 per cent last year compared to a growth of 12 per cent in 2014.
Kenya’s drive to build new electricity plants to support economic growth slowed last year after hitting a record high in 2014 as demand for power slows down.
Official data shows that the country added 138 megawatts (MW) to the grid last year compared to 395 MW in 2014.
This lifted Kenya’s total installed power capacity from 2,195 MW in 2014 to 2,333 MW against peak demand of 1, 569 MW, leaving an excess capacity of about 764 MW.
Demand for electricity grew at a slower pace of 5.5 per cent last year compared to a growth of 12 per cent in 2014.
The country in 2014 injected additional 280 MW of geothermal energy to the grid from Olkaria power plants in Naivasha, which helped cut power bills by about 30 per cent.
But the quest to build new plants has slowed down amid fears from the government that excess electricity supply would lead to expensive electricity bills for homes and businesses.
The slowdown has led to cancellation of the planned construction of a 700-megawatt natural gas power plant in Mombasa.
“If we put in excess power which is not consumed, power will be expensive because there is a fixed cost which must be paid to the power plant,” said Joseph Njoroge, the Energy Principal Secretary in charge of electricity.
The 764 MW excess capacity is higher than the 327 MW that was posted in 2013—signalling supply for power has been increasing faster than consumption.
The Mombasa gas-powered power plant was part of the government’s plans to add 5,000 MW to the grid in a bid to diversify sources of electricity to meet rising demand and accelerate economic growth.
The Jubilee government in 2013, after assuming power, set itself an ambitious target of growing the installed power capacity to 6,765MW in its first five-year term.
In the plan, 1,600 MW was to come from geothermal sources, 1,920 MW from coal-powered plants, and 420 MW from hydro.
Others were 650 MW (wind) and 700 MW from the liquefied natural gas plant at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa, which has now been dropped.
Kenya currently relies on an energy mix of geothermal, thermal and hydroelectric sources. Hydro and geothermal power accounted for 84.5 per cent of the total power generated and consumed last year.
Hydroelectric power is the cheapest source at Sh3 per unit, followed by geothermal (Sh7) while diesel generators charge about Sh18.
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