Electricity demand hit a fresh peak of 2,177.13 Megawatts(MW) last month, signalling the uptick in economic activities and consumption by households.
Official data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) shows that the record demand came on February 24, coinciding with a period when local generation dipped to the second lowest in at least eight months.
The new record of power demand indicates a continued rise in economic activities and consumption by households, handing a major boost to Kenya Power. But the surge in demand came in a month when local generation of electricity dropped to 1,110.44 Gigawatt hours (GWh)-- the second lowest after the 1,109.52 GWh output posted in December last year.
Peak demand in Kenya occurs between 7.30 pm and 8 pm for the rest of the country, while in the coastal region, the peak is recorded between 8 pm and 8.30 pm.
Activity in the private sector expanded for the first time since August last year, according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey by Stanbic Bank. The overall PMI reading — a gauge for month-on-month private sector actors such as output and new orders was 51.3 from 49.8 in January.
Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions in the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show a deterioration.
The surge in demand and drop in local generation saw Kenya tap more electricity imports from neighbouring Ethiopia and Uganda to avert rationing and avoid turning to costly and dirty thermal generators.
For example, KNBS data shows that Kenya imported a record 142.25 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in January, driven by increased demand.
It is the highest on record and an increase of 2.55 percent from 138.7 million units imported in the previous month.
Some 85.7 percent (121.96 million units) of this electricity was imported from Ethiopia, while the rest from Uganda. “Total electricity imports rose from 138.7 million kWh in December 2023 to 142.3 million kWh in January 2024. Conversely, total electricity exports dropped from four million kWh to 3.4 million kWh,” said KNBS.
Kenya was forced to import more power during the month as local generation was not enough to meet the increase in demand.
Electricity distributor Kenya Power sold 881.37 million units in January, underlining an increase in sales of 6.4 percent compared to a month earlier.
It is the second-highest quantity sold by the utility on record, only behind the record 885.17 million units it sold in August last year.
As demand rose by 6.4 percent, local generation increased by a slower rate of 5.7 percent during the period which necessitated higher imports from neighbours to plug the deficit.
Kenya has since July 2022 been importing electricity from Ethiopia under a 25-year deal where the power is priced at $6.5 cents per unit for the first five years. Kenya will have room to renegotiate the price from 2027.
Currently, Kenya also has an electricity exchange deal with Uganda, with the country that imports more from each other paying at the end of a given period.
Geothermal sources accounted for 47.2 percent or 3,954.82 GWh of the total electricity generated in the eight months to February this year followed by hydro at 24.6 percent (2,062.1 GWh).
Wind is the third biggest source with a share of 15.2 percent of 1,271.42 GWh while thermal plants are fourth with 775.57 GWh (9.24 percent).
