Joseph Siror, the Managing Director and CEO of Kenya Power, presented the company’s Operational Performance Report for Q2 FY 2023-2024 during a press briefing at Stima Plaza in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ethiopia now supplies 11 percent of the electricity consumed by Kenyans daily, increasing the Horn of Africa’s stake in local power supply.
Data from Kenya Power shows imports from Ethiopia. Electric power beats supply from thermal generators and solar to emerge as the fourth largest source of power supply.
Geothermal retained its lead as the top source of electricity fed to the national grid, with a share of 40 percent, followed by hydro, which contributed 24 percent.
Wind contributed 17 percent, while thermal and solar contributed the least share at five percent and three percent, respectively.
“Thermal power dispatched has averaged five to eight percent of the total with improved hydrology,” said Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror during the company’s operational update in Nairobi this week.
Kenya began to import 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Ethiopia in January last year.
“The supply from Ethiopia will be stepped up to 400 MW in less than three years,” said Dr. Siror.
Ethiopia is one of only two countries from which Kenya imports electricity.
The other is Uganda, which has been exchanging electricity with Kenya for decades to address generation deficits on either side of the border.
In this arrangement, however, Kenya has almost always been the net importer of electricity from neighbouring ountries.
Kenya is also set to start exchanging electricity with Tanzania with an interconnector between the two countries, which is currently undergoing live tests before commercial supply commences.
According to Dr. Siror, Kenya will be exporting power to Tanzania through its state utility, the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco).
Power imports from Ethiopia have been critical in stabilising local supply and came in handy, especially during the biting drought that ravaged the country at the beginning of last year.
In July 2022, Kenya and Ethiopia entered into a power purchase agreement, agreeing on a rate of $0.065 (equivalent to Ksh 10.20) per unit, significantly lower than the rates offered by independent power producers (IPPs).
