by: Editorial Staff | March 28, 2024
Electricity demand in Kenya reached a new peak of 2,177.13 Megawatts (MW) last month, signaling a recovery in economic activities and an increase in household consumption. According to official data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), this record demand coincided with a period of decline in local production, the second lowest in the last eight months.
This increase in demand represents a major boost for Kenya Power, but occurred in a month in which domestic electricity production fell to 1,110.44 Gigawatt hours (GWh), just above the low of 1,109.52 GWh recorded in December of the previous year. Peak demand occurs between 7.30 pm and 8.00 pm for most of the country, while in the coastal region it occurs between 8.00 pm and 8.30 pm.
The increase in demand and the decrease in local generation have pushed Kenya to increase electricity imports from Ethiopia and Uganda to avoid rationing and avoid resorting to expensive and polluting thermal generators. For example, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that Kenya imported a record 142.25 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in January, fueled by rising demand.
This represents the highest level on record and an increase of 2.55 percent from the 138.7 million units imported in the previous month. Of this electricity, 85.7 percent (121.96 million units) was imported from Ethiopia, with the rest from Uganda. “Total electricity imports increased from 138.7 million kWh in December 2023 to 142.3 million kWh in January 2024. In contrast, total electricity exports decreased from 4 million kWh to 3.4 million kWh,” the KNBS said.
Kenya was forced to import more energy during February as local production was not enough to meet the increased demand. Kenya Power sold 881.37 million units in January, marking a 6.4 percent sales increase from the previous month, the second highest ever sold by the company, only behind the record 885.17 million units sold in August last year.
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