Kenya has continued to outpace its regional peers when it comes to electricity provision, the Energy & Petroleum Statistics Report for the year ending June 2023 shows.
The report released in December 2023, shows that Kenya held the distinction of possessing the highest installed capacity in the region representing 46 percent of the region's entire installed capacity.
Kenya has a capacity of 3,311MW compared to Tanzania's 1,863MW while Uganda was ranked third with a capacity of 1,610MW.
Tanzania's capacity represents 25.53 per cent of the total installed regional capacity while Uganda's represents 22.06 per cent.
During the period, Kenya also recorded the highest growth in installed capacity, with Kenya adding 235MW while Uganda came in second with 201MW.
"The region’s installed capacity is anticipated to experience exponential growth with the completion of flagship generation projects, notably the 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Power plant in Tanzania and the 600MW Karuma Hydroelectric Power plant in Uganda," read the report in part.
"These developments are poised to significantly enhance the region’s energy generation capabilities."
EPRA further indicated that Kenya had made notable strides in the production of renewable energy which represents 84.65 per cent of Kenya's energy mix.
The renewable energy resources, which align with President William Ruto's Climate Change agenda, include Geothermal, Hydro, Wind and Solar resources.
"The Government of Kenya has prioritized the development of renewable energy projects through various policies including the Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPDP) and Feed in Tariff (FiT) policy. Further, the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy projects has led to the development of captive generation plants by commercial and industrial facilities," the report further reads.
"During the review period, 84.65% of the energy supplied to Kenya’s national grid was obtained from renewable energy sources. Thermal plants accounted for 10.50%, while 4.85% was imported."
Despite the stellar investments, however, the power utility provider Kenya Power suffered nationwide blackouts on three different occasions in 2023 alone.
The utility company attributed the blackouts to faulty systems. As a result, Energy CS Davis Chirchir hinted that the country was mulling load shedding to guarantee power delivery.
Throughout the year, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) averaged the Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI) at 2.25 hours.
"The longest outage was 2.7hrs per customer and was recorded in March 2023 while the shortest outages per customer was recorded the preceding month at 1.54hrs," showed the report.
"On average customers lacked power for 8.37 hrs per month. This index was highest in November 2022 (10.63hrs) and March 2023 (12.75hrs) due to system disturbances that resulted in national blackouts."
