Kenya stops buying Tanzania electricity for border towns

Kenya has stopped electricity imports from Tanzania and stepped up power sales to Dar es Salaam following increased generation.

Official data shows that Kenya Power did not buy electricity from Tanzania in the year to October having imported 1.1 million units (kilowatt hours) from Dar es Salaam during the same period last year.

Nairobi sold 1.8 million units of power to Tanzania, up from 1.1 million units in January to October last year.

Kenya’s coastal towns of Lunga Lunga and Vanga have been hooked to the Tanzanian power grid because they were not linked to the local electricity network.

“Kenya and Tanzania have cross border electrification which is small power trade whereby Tanzania sells power to Kenya’s parts not connected to the national grid via Lunga Lunga as Kenya sells to Tanzania via Namanga,” said Joseph Oketch, director of electricity at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“It is not a power pool trade and therefore it fluctuates because there is no transmission line connecting the two countries as is the case with Uganda where we have a line via Tororo.”

The Business Daily failed to establish from Kenya Power whether the two towns are now connected to the Kenyan grid.

The country injected additional 280 megawatts of geothermal electricity to the grid between August and December last year, easing demand for power imports and creating more room for sales.

The country has more than halved total electricity imports to 46.5 million units, largely from neighbouring Uganda, in the review period from 99.8 million units and increased exports to 38.8 million units from 19.8 million units.

“The country has increased power sales and cut imports largely due to the additional geothermal energy to the grid,” the ERC senior manager for economic regulation John Mutua said earlier.

READ: Kenya unveils plans for Sh5.3bn power lines to Tanzania

Uganda, which is pushing for increased trade with Kenya, bought the bulk of Kenya’s power exports (95 per cent) at 37 million units in the year to October, up from 18.6 million units last year.

Kenya bought 44.2 million units of power from Kampala, down from 95.7 million units in 2014 between January and October – marking a 53 per cent cutback.

Kenya also imports power from Ethiopia to feed the neighbouring Moyale town, which is not linked to the national electricity grid.

Kenya had last year stepped up imports from Uganda to meet growing need for power driven by rising demand from industrialists and increased customer connections, particularly in rural areas.

Kenya Power managing director Ben Chumo in September said Kenya would export 30 megawatts of electricity to Rwanda “in the next three months”. He could not be reached on phone for comment.

The country plans to construct a Sh5.3 billion power transmission line from January to link it with Tanzania that will further boost power trade.