The growing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and motorcycles has placed Kenya Power at the centre of attention, given that it is the country’s sole electricity distributor. Besides ensuring the availability of power to power the clean engines, Kenya Power is also tasked with leading other State agencies on the adoption of technology meant to cut environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels.
Dr John Ngeno, general manager of supply chain and logistics at Kenya Power talked to the Business Daily about Kenya Power’s plan for the clean mobility shift.
Besides setting up its own charging systems, what else is Kenya Power doing to make it easy for motorists to use electric vehicles and motorcycles?
One of our strategies is to get into the malls and get people doing malls to create space for charging and also all new petrol stations. A new mall must have electric charging stations.
In the next two years, we want to be in all major towns, for instance, we have already bought over 15 charges to cover the major 15 towns and we will be growing along all the major highways.
As Kenya Power, we have written to the counties of Nakuru, Narok, Kisumu, Machakos, Mombasa and others over proposals to partner and ensure we set up the charging systems.
How much is Kenya Power spending to drive the EV mobility agenda?
We have a budget of Sh258 million to support infrastructure in the EV ecosystem. To support the installation of charging systems and related infrastructure.
This financial year we have increased the budget by Sh50 million to buy more chargers. There is also an expression of interest to bring in a consultant to guide us in this journey and to make the EV shift sustainable.
We are constantly monitoring EV uptake and if we see that the growth is good, then we will approach the board to give us more money to push the EV agenda because as much as it is good for the climate, it is also good for Kenya Power in terms of driving electricity sales.
On average, how much is Kenya Power spending to buy one charger?
We are buying a single charger at an average of Sh650,000 but if popularity keeps growing as we have noted, then economies of scale will apply and we expect to get discounted prices.
We are also in talks with the Kenya Airports Authority to install an electric charger at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). We already bought it and we are now negotiating for the space.
The charger at the JKIA will greatly inform our decision on how to try and push this at the other two major airports. This is because we are noting that a high number of electric cars are being deployed by Uber operators to ferry travellers to the airports.
Our strategy is to create as many points of charging as possible because this is the single biggest concern at the centre of EV growth outside major towns.
You will even go to the villages and realise that people are keen to try electric motorbikes but the charging infrastructure is the headache, which we must address.
How soon should we expect electric charging stations under Kenya Power outside Nairobi?
We are looking at July next year as the latest. For example, look at a town like Mtito Andei, which is major along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, we are looking at such areas.
Most of the motorbikes when fully charged can only cover about 80 kilometres but as Kenya Power we need to get farther than this, we need stronger batteries that can last longer, especially for our bikes as Kenya Power.
We need our bikes to get to the far-flung villages as Kenya Power but we have to start somewhere
Between bikes and cars, which one do you say is driving e-mobility?
Motorcycles are really driving it; this is mainly due to the pricing aspect.
A new electric car is very expensive, so most people are starting with bikes. However, as popularity grows and prices of new units drop, we expect to see cars become an integral driver of the e-mobility shift.
How soon does Kenya Power expect to start feeling the impact of e-mobility in its power sales?
For now, the uptake is at what I can call a nascent stage. However, aggressively pushing it will help us in other ways. For example, our power purchase arrangement compels us to pay for every unit of electricity generated even if we don’t sell, as per the take or pay.
But if we push e-mobility, especially at the off-peak hours, then progressively Kenya Power will no longer be solely bearing this cost because of the growing use of electricity at off-peak hours. This will, however, take some time to happen.
In our regional offices, charging will be free for some time, maybe two months as we monitor popularity and this will guide how we will charge.
We have already installed 15 charging stations. All major towns will be covered by June next year but our investment is not rigid to this timeline, if popularity grows within this period then we have to install more
Government agencies are yet to adopt the e-mobility idea. Is Kenya Power doing any better?
Kenya Power is leading other agencies in the adoption of EVs. And this is evidenced by the growing inquiries that we are getting from our colleagues in other agencies.
We have already bought four EVs, another seven are being delivered this month or two months from today. In the current financial year that ends in June 2025, we will float a tender for the supply for another 11 bringing our total to 22 by June next year.
The units are being bought under a larger budget that also includes the money we are using to buy charging stations.
