Electricity generation increased by 5.8 percent in the first six months of 2024 as consumers bought more units, buoyed by lower prices for four consecutive months.
Data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) shows that the country’s power generators produced 7,201,974,843 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity between January and June.
This is from 6,894,535,380kWh that was generated during the same period in 2023 as consumers increased electricity consumption amid a fall in prices.
According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the cost of 200 units of electricity has dropped by 6.8 percent over the past year to Sh6,250.9 on average in June 2024 compared to Sh6,707.02 in June 2023.
Similarly, the cost of 50 units has dropped by 5.3 percent to Sh1,320.73 on average in June 2024 compared to Sh1,394.22 in June 2023.
Kenya Power procures electricity from more than a dozen producers, with KenGen supplying the utility with 60.3 percent of its electricity in the year to June 2023, making it the country’s leading power producer.
KenGen is followed by the privately-owned Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), which supplied 12.6 percent of the country’s power needs during the period.
Other leading power suppliers are US geothermal firm OrPower 4 Inc, Rabai Power Limited, Kipeto Energy Plc, Ethiopia Electric Utility, Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited and Thika Power Limited.
The increased power usage portends higher revenues for Kenya Power during the financial year ending June 2024.
PAGE
The company’s revenue from electricity sales has been increasing annually boosted by increased consumption and new tariffs, and last year, revenue from electricity sales grew by 21 percent from Sh157.35 billion to a historic Sh190.98 billion.
The utility, which sunk into a Sh3.19 billion net loss in the year to June 2023 despite the revenue bump, is expected to release its full-year results later in the year.
Kenyans have enjoyed slightly cheaper electricity prices this year due to a stronger shilling which has lessened the burden of foreign currency-denominated power purchase costs.
Generation of cheaper hydropower due to sufficient rains received during the period has also lowered prices, with output of hydropower hitting a historic 317,977,648kWh last month, according to Epra data.
Hydropower is Kenya’s second leading source of electricity behind geothermal but is the cheapest. Other leading power sources are wind, thermal, imports from Uganda and Ethiopia, and solar.
