Electricity consumers paid Sh50.6 billion in the year to June in the form of fuel and forex adjustment costs up from Sh30.6 billion a year earlier.
KenGen has embarked on capital-intensive alternative power generation projects to reduce dependency on thermal sources.
New power plants helped KenGen gain market share from independent power sellers in the year ended June 2012.
The electricity producer’s market share grew to 75 per cent from 70.7 per cent a year earlier and 53.1 per cent in 2010, according to Kenya Power’s financial statement.
The statement also shows that Kenya Power, the sole buyer of bulk power, bought electricity worth Sh21 billion, meaning that the independent producers posted sales of Sh5.1 billion given KenGen’s revenues of Sh15.9 billion.
Increased capacity
At Sh5.1 billion, the independent power sellers saw their revenues drop from last year’s Sh5.9 billion and Sh9.6 billion in 2010.
“The company registered continued growth in revenues arising from increased capacity as a result of newly commissioned power plants,” said KenGen’s managing director Eddy Njoroge in a statement.
KenGen installed plants with additional capacity of 52.5 megawatts while some that were upgraded mid last year like the 120MW gas-driven Kipevu plant and Tana Hydro reported full year of operation.
The shifts in market share has cut the earnings of the independent power producers by 46 per cent over the past two years and lifted KenGen’s net profit and dividends.
KenGen’s net profit grew 35.6 per cent to Sh2.8 billion on increased sales, which rose to Sh15.99 billion from Sh14.3 billion and allowed it to raise its dividend to Sh0.60 a share from Sh0.50, a payout it has maintained since 2008.
The independent power producers include Aggreko, Tsavo Power Company, Iberafrica, Rabai Power, Mumias Sugar and OrPower.
The bulk of the power from the independent players is made up of the expensive thermal power since Mumias Sugar and OrPower are the only ones dealing in renewable sources.
But consumers have not benefited from the increased market share of KenGen, whose power generation is currently hinged on the cheaper hydro power.
Electricity consumers paid Sh50.6 billion in the year to June in the form of fuel and forex adjustment costs up from Sh30.6 billion a year earlier.
KenGen has embarked on capital-intensive alternative power generation projects to reduce dependency on thermal sources.
