Kenya Power registered a new peak demand as power consumption reached a record high of 2,316 megawatts last Wednesday from a previous record of 2,304 megawatts reported in mid-January.
The electricity distributor attributes the growth in demand to the continued investments in new and upgrading of existing transmission line to stabilize the national grid as well as connection of new customers which have both led to higher power usage.
According to Kenya Power Managing Director Dr Joseph Siror, projects which have contributed to grid stability include the completion of the Kimuka 220/66kV substation by Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) from which Kenya Power built four 66kV feeder lines to serve Nairobi and adjacent counties as well as timely completion of the 33kV double circuit interconnector between Narok and Bomet.
“The investment in upgrading transmission lines by Kenya Power and KETRACO has resulted in a more stable grid. In the last six months, we also connected over 198,535 new customers to the national grid. With improved grid stability and deployment of various connectivity projects, we expect a steady growth in electricity demand in the short and medium term,” said Dr Siror.
The firm says peak electricity demand has been steadily growing over the last 3 years with the growth rate gaining momentum in 2024.
Electricity demand exceeded the 2,000MW threshold towards the end of 2021 and peaked above 2,100 MW in 2022 but remained steadily below 2,200 MW in 2023 before regaining momentum in June 2024, Kenya Power stated.
“Looking at the trend, it took nearly two years for the peak demand to grow by 200 MW. However, since June last year, peak demand has grown by over 116 MW. This means that in the last 8 months alone peak demand has grown by an average of 14.5 MW per month. Last year we had 7 new peaks, as of December the Peak was 2,288 MW by January the peak was 2,304 MW,” added Dr Siror.
The electric utility now targets 289,121 new customers to be connected to the national grid upon completion of Last Mile Phases IV and V.
Other growth areas Kenya Power is eying to grow consumption and revenue include electric vehicles and e-cooking.
“In less than a year, we were billing less than 100,000 units of electricity on e-mobility accounts. Today, we are billing an average of 350,000 units from the accounts, representing more than triple the growth in electricity demand from this customer segment over this period,” he stated.
Last year, the firm announced a three year investment of Ksh 258 million to drive the uptake of electric vehicles and motorbikes in the country. The investment is expected to finance construction of charging stations across the country, and purchase of electric vehicles and motorbikes for company operation.
Keya Power has also set up four e-cooking hubs in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu as it eyes the adoption of the technology in schools and hotels.
