Kenya’s demand for power rises past 1,600MW mark

Kenya’s demand for electricity has crossed the 1,600-megawatt mark for the first time as companies expand their operations and more homes get connected to the national power grid.

Data from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) shows that power consumption hit 1,618 megawatts last month — the highest level yet in the country’s history.

The previous peak demand was 1,587 megawatts in May.

Increased power consumption is a factor of rising economic activity and connection of more homes to the national grid.

“Our peak demand rose to 1618 megawatts in September 2016. This is the highest we have recorded,” said Joseph Oketch, director of electricity at the ERC.

Kenya’s peak demand has steadily increased from of 1,463 megawatts in 2013, marking a 10.5 per cent growth in the past three years.

“Economic growth enables more consumers to get connected and existing ones to use more power, leading to an increase in demand from time to time,” the ERC says.

The energy regulator estimates that power demand will cross the 2,800-megawatt mark in 2020, or a 70 per cent growth in the next four years.

Uganda’s peak power demand stands at 500 megawatts, or nearly a third of Kenya’s while Tanzania’s peak is about 1,000 megawatts. Peak demand in South Africa is more than 30,000 megawatts.

Kenya is on course to achieving its economic growth target of 5.9 per cent this year after expanding by 6.2 per cent in the second quarter and 5.9 per cent in the first quarter, lifted by expansion in agriculture and a strong recovery in tourism.

READ: Rising power demand denies consumers cheaper electricity

Kenyan firms spent Sh6 trillion in their operations last year, the ninth largest companies’ budget in Africa, according to a report released last month by McKinsey Global Institute.

The number of customers connected to the power grid has grown to 4.9 million from one million in 2010.

Officials have been racing to increase access to power to support economic expansion, cutting connection charges for customers.

Access to electricity jumped to 60 per cent of the population from 27 per cent in 2013. The rate is based on multiplying the number of households connected to electricity by 5.5, the average number of people per household, Kenya Power said.

The growing power demand for productive activities bodes well for the economy as sector players have in recent past faulted the State’s plan to inject an additional 5,000 megawatts to the grid, citing a lack of capacity to absorb it. 

Kenya’s power capacity currently stands at 2,333 megawatts from a mix comprising geothermal, hydro-electric and thermal sources.

Kenya Power, the electricity distributor, plans to light 314,200 additional homes by next year at a reduced price in what is set to trigger village economies and boost the welfare of the rural residents.

The utility firm will from this year connect homes to the power grid for Sh15,000, down from Sh35,000 previously, and will allow those connected to pay the fee over 36 months under a government-backed programme.

Officials target an installed power capacity of 6,000 megawatts in 2020 to meet the growing demand, up from the current 2,333 megawatts.