Kenya’s power imports from Uganda falls Sh744m

Kenya’s payment to Uganda for electricity imports dropped by Sh744 million or more than a third in the first four months of the year on increased local generation.

Kenya bought 56.89 million kilowatt hours (kWh) from Uganda in the four months to April at Sh1.19 billion, down from 93. 33 million kWh worth Sh1.93 billion in a similar period a year earlier—reflecting a 38.3 per cent drop.

This eased the pain of a higher tariffs pact the two countries inked in 2014 that puts cross-border purchase of electricity at Sh21 per kilowatt hour (kWh), up from between Sh8 and Sh10.

Kampala has emerged a key beneficiary of the new tariff with Kenya as remains a net importer of power in recent years due to local generation lagging consumption.

At Sh21, the Uganda power is seven times costlier than hydropower generated from local dams. The reduced demand for Uganda electricity comes in a period when local generators upped supply to the grid.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company and independent power producers injected 243 million kWh additional electricity into the national grid during the period to April compared to a similar period a year earlier.

The additional power came from geothermal and costly thermal sources that compensated from reduced hydro-power following poor weather, setting up Kenyans for costly energy bills.

Kenya has a direct electricity transmission line connecting with Uganda via Tororo, enabling bulk power imports.

Official data shows that Kenya’s electricity exports to Uganda increased 408 per cent to 8.64 million units in the three months, earning Kenya Sh181.4 million—about 15 per cent of what Nairobi paid Uganda.