NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 12 – The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) says it’s on course to achieving the targets of its 2008-2013 power capacity expansion strategy.
KenGen Chairman Titus Mbathi said the company has already commissioned an additional 264 megawatts (MW) of the targeted 615 MW with an energy mix of geothermal, thermal, wind and hydropower.
“From 2013 to 2018, we intend to create a sustainable power growth, achieved through delivery of least cost development projects, growing supply ahead of demand to establish a healthy reserve margin,” he said.
The Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPDP) envisions that Kenya’s electricity peak demand will increase from 1,302 MW in 2011 to 15,026 MW by 2030.
Mbathi was speaking during a shareholders’ raffle draw on Wednesday that selected 300 shareholders to tour KenGen’s installations in the Seven Forks later this month.
Such an initiative, Mbathi added, will acquaint shareholders with the company’s projects such as the upcoming wind farms expected to increase the country’s current wind power generation of 5.2 megawatts by 10-fold in the next three years.
“We have completed mapping of wind generation areas and allocated eight potential stations which by 2014 will have been developed. That is why we are talking of a capacity of roughly 50 MW by 2014,” he revealed.
KenGen recently commissioned Phase I of the Ngong wind farm as part of its green energy strategy.
Over the years, Kenya’s over-reliance on hydropower has been a major cause of a power supply deficit, most recently compounded by drought and fluctuating global fuel prices.
Kenya’s total installed hydropower capacity is 743 MW, while small hydro potential is estimated at 3,000 MW, of which it is estimated that less than 30MW have been exploited and only 15 MW supply the grid.
Currently, the national peak demand stands at 1,191 MW against the available generation capacity of 1,359 MW as at May 2011 and by 2014 it is anticipated that that electricity generation capacity will increase to 1,789 MW.
However, electricity demand has been growing at an annual average of 5.3 per cent over the last five years, and is expected to accelerate to over 10 per cent annually.
