NAIROBI, Kenya May 26-Kenya’s demand for electricity has hit a new peak demand of 2,051 megawatts(MW) up from 2,036MW recorded in November 2021, pointing to accelerated growth and recovery in demand which slowed down in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The growth was driven mainly by renewable energy sources with geothermal energy making the greatest contribution, giving a further boost to Kenya’s climate action agenda.
According to a report by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), the country’s highest energy gross demand was recorded on May 18, registering a 2.5 per cent growth to record a new peak of 37,273.17MWh(megawatts per hour) up from 36,380.63MWh in November last year.
NSE-listed electricity generator, KenGen PLC’s geothermal power stations in Olkaria, Naivasha provided the largest share of 14,763.37MWh during the recent analysis.
KenGen currently has 713MW of geothermal energy generation capacity and is readying to commission another 83MW in its newest power plant, the Olkaria I additional unit 6.
At the same time, the EPRA report revealed that the total amount of electricity generated by KenGen through its major hydropower stations exceeded the National Control Centre (NCC)’s dispatch projections by 1,988.42MWh, denoting a 25 per cent increase. KenGen’s total installed hydro capacity currently stands at 826MW.
Gitaru, Kindaruma, Kamburu, and Kiambere Power Stations were among the hydropower stations that exceeded the projected power generation output.
KenGen Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano said the report is a reflection of KenGen’s ongoing strategic efforts to meet the country’s growing demand for electricity through harnessing Kenya’s rich renewable energy sources.
“KenGen is committed to ensuring steady and reliable supply of competitively priced electricity to support Kenya’s economy. The company is doing this by accelerating deployment of renewable energy sources such as geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar.” said the KenGen MD.
In June last year, KenGen joined United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Business Ambition for 1.5°C Campaign, saying it is banking its future on green, affordable and accessible energy, including geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar.
“Our future project pipeline is green, including geothermal, wind, solar and hydro. The projects will be implemented in phases with the first expected to be commissioned by June 30th 2022,” said Miano.
