Kenya Power has completed the evaluation of the tenders that will see it connect 280,000 Kenyans to the grid under a Sh28 billion European Union-funded project
The project will also be financed by the European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency.
The firm revealed 245,638 in its financial disclosures that customers have already been connected to the grid and an additional 27,558 were on-boarded through the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) and government schemes.
“To build on these gains, we have commenced implementation of Phase IV of the project targeting to connect 280,000 customers at Sh28 billion. The project is financed by the European Union, European Investment Bank, and French Development Agency,” said Kenya Power in the latest annual report for the year ended June 2023.
“The Company has concluded the tender evaluation for the project and is awaiting a go-ahead (no objection) from the financiers to proceed to the next stage. In a nutshell, once the go-ahead is granted, the contractor will be brought on board for the implementation of the project,” said Kenya Power in a written email response to the Business Daily on Tuesday.
The company has welcomed funding from various governments to aid in the electrification of Kenyans including Sh1.9 billion in the year ended June 2023 from Japan International Corporation Agency to connect 11,000 customers in Nakuru, Nyandarua, Kilifi and Kwale counties.
The drive to electrify the nation has seen an additional sale of 99.98 gigawatts per hour and an expanded customer base of 9.2 million.
The various projects in place to support the electrification agenda include; the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP), connectivity programmes spearheaded by Rerec, and government-funded schemes.
The firm said the growth in the number of customers contributed to a 4.4 percent increase in electricity sales to 9,567 GWh from 9,163 GWh the previous year, resulting in 21 percent higher revenue from electricity sales, Sh157.35 billion to Sh190.98 billion.
They blamed the unavailability of critical materials such as meters and transformers in undertaking connectivity and system expansion projects.
Kenya Power developed a new metering strategy that ensures customers only pay for what they consume and helps the company account for sales.
By December 2024, the firm aims to transition all large power customers to smart metering and consumers above 200 units on advanced metering infrastructure within three years.
“Despite these loss reduction initiatives, system efficiency declined by 0.56 per cent to 77 percent during the year mainly attributed to increased electricity pilferage, transmission and distribution capacity limitations, and shortage of meters due to ongoing procurement-related litigations which resulted in delays in procurement of meters,” said Kenya Power.
