Electricity generation soars 5.4pc, new connections up 8.7pc » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 7 — The country’s power generation has increased by 5.44 per cent since 2022, official government data has revealed.

Data from the ministry of Energy and Petroleum availed on Monday showed generation across the country increased from 3,076 Megawatts recorded in 2022 to 3,243 Megawatts in 2024.

The increased generation capacity mirrored a comparable increase in new electricity connenctions with Kenya Power, the country’s utility firm, reporting an 8.7 per cent rise.

Kenya Power increased customers connected to the national grid from 8,919,584 in 2022 to 9,693,954 in 2024.

The ministry also noted a 22 per cent increase in power transmission lines from 7,846 Kilometers in 2022 to 9,577 Kilometers in 2024.

Additionally, power distribution lines increased by 3.2 per cent from 82,210 Kilometers in 2022 to 84,853 Kilometers.

Kawi House also reported increased incremental flow rate for Kenya Petroleum Corporation per hour.

The ministry noted that Line 5 reported a 37 per cent increase from 950 M3/Hours in 2022 to 1,300 M3/Hours in 2024 with demurrage costs reducing from 2,227,411.7 Dollars in 2022 to 496,382.5 Dollars.

Kenya Power hopes to connect additional households to electricity as part of government’s ambition to sustain transition to eco-friendly energy sources.

Additional connections

In July 2024 Kenya Power announced plans to connect over 9,000 households to the grid under Phase V of the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) project.

This is after the project received a Sh1.85 billion grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Kenya Power earmarked households located within four counties of Nakuru, Kilifi, Kwale and Nyandarua for connection by January 2025.

“We expect to connect all the targeted households across the four counties by January 2025. The Company is committed to fast-tracking electricity connection across the country to achieve universal access to electricity,” Kenya Power stated.

Rosemary Oduor, Kenya Power’s General Manager for Commercial Services and Sales, said the JICA grant financing will enable the targeted households for the project to access electricity and transform their livelihoods.

Since its inception in 2015, the Last Mile Connectivity Project has significantly contributed to the growth of the electricity access rate in the county with 9.6 million households connected to the grid.

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