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Kenya’s 5,000MW power target off the mark

Tuesday October 11 2016

Kenya's stated target of adding 5,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by 2017 is unlikely to be achieved with an installed capacity of only 2,341MW a year to the deadline, according to a report by Research and Markets.

The firm said Kenya’s power output in early 2016 consisted of hydropower at 827MW (36 per cent) and geothermal at 609MW (27 per cent).

“Kenya’s growing economy is expected to continue pushing demand up in both the mid- and long-term,” said the Dublin-based consulting firm in a report titled Kenya’s Power Sector.

Although hydropower continues to dominate the energy mix, its share has declined as geothermal steam, solar and wind sources come on-stream and demand for electricity grows by eight per cent each month.

READ: Inside the ambitious 5,000MW power plan

Power generation

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Kenya Power managing director Ben Chumo said generation of electricity in early 2016 rose to about 2,341MW with a reserve margin of 33MW. In 2013, the installed capacity was 1,700MW, with a reserve margin of 10MW. The peak demand now stands at 1,650MW.

“The reserve margin of 33MW is within acceptable limits as the global standard is 30MW,” said Mr Chumo, adding that the effective capacity was 2,034MW as some diesel plants had been retired.

The government has widened its generation base from hydropower to geothermal, wind, solar, coal, natural and nuclear to meet increasing demand.

Mr Chumo said the cost of electricity had declined to Ksh2.31 ($0.0231) per unit from Ksh7.22 ($0.0722) in August 2014 due to increased geothermal power output.

KenGen, Kenya Power and the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company together with independent power producers are implementing various projects aimed at supplying competitively priced electricity.

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