Kenya is producing excess power due to low consumption which pushes the cost up. Currently Kenya has an installed capacity of about 2500MW against a peak demand of 1850MW leading to an excess capacity of 700MW. Across the region , power utilities are in a fix due to long term PPAs skewed to protect the interests of investors, including those producing electricity using thermal plants. In Kenya some 27 thermal power plants generate 712MW. While this is power that the country does not need, considering the excess capacity, and the fact that it is expensive and dirty, KPLC must continue to buy electricity from them until expiry if their PPAs with the last set to expire in 2032. Whether generating power or lying idle, thermal plants are entitled to fixed -capacity charge of USD 0.04 per kilowatt hour. This is passed to consumers as a fuel cost charge depending on the amount of fuel used in power production and which currently stands at USD 0.03 per unit
No no no. Let’s add a coal plant for even more excess power.
Well kplc should work hard and connect more consumers to the grid.
Sometimes mimi hushangaa kwani gava haiwezi kataa kulipa some of this contracts which were obviously obtained fraudulently?!
But then again when you look at the owners of this companies,you get to know why we are paying them after all!!
KPLC should be made to make these contract public,and if they were awarded fraudulent, the citizenry should move to court to get them cancelled.
After which the DCI and the DPP should move in.
But this is Kenya… People bend even further for more shafting rather than raise alarm over injustice or corruption.
KPLC isn’t even close to connecting the whole of Kenya, despite being around for, well, forever. Endeleeni kulipia concrete posts, then by the end of that they will come up with another stupid project
Problem is cost, I would happily help Kenya power consume the power, I wouldn’t hate having my AC on throughout or using my electric cooker or heating hadi maji ya kitchen sink, but units zinanyonywa kunyonywa, in China power is between 6 and 8 bob depending on province nakwambia they have electrical machinery to produce stuff we buy here deep in the villages, hapa fungua tu kinyozi bill ni 10k.
The big problem is Independent Power Producers IPPs who generate power from thermal sources such as Diesel. Power from these sources is really expensive but we cannot operate without it. See today most of our power is from renewable sources such as Wind, Geothermal and Solar. The problem is these sources are not reliable.Solar is not always available as some days are gloomy and during the night there is not sunlight. Wind is not always reliable. Very slow or fast wind speeds will lead to wind turbines not generating power at all. Hydro Electric power plants need constant water supply and during the dry season there is less water hence less power generation. Additionally we have limited number of HEPs. Another even bigger problem is Loads which are not switched on at the same time. Most of us if not all of us operate our electrical appliances in the evening to almost midnight and in the evening. During this time power demand is so high that it overruns supply hence the need for IPPs which add to overall cost of the power. Worse is that during the day and at night power consumption is lowest hence the power supplier is left with excess power that it has to pay for despite the fact that it was never used. Also remember large power grids have the advantage of power inertia, thats the reason you rarely notice surges due to voltage changes. There is also a misleading narrative that having more renewable sources will bring down power charges drastically. The reduction in the charges will be minimal and its the reason we have not seen power charges reduce even after addtion of several wind and geothermal sources. It all has to do with reliability. Power from the sources is only available at certain times of the day during day time when demand is lowest. The power has to be used while its being produced as it cannot be stored. Therefore, during the morning and evening when there is highest power demand and our renewable sources are producing at minimum then we have to seek the services of IPPs.
Correct.
Lake Turkana Wind Power operates at maximum capacity at night and during the dry season when the winds are strongest.
Right now their generating capacity is around half and will stay so until mid next month.
People forget that wind and solar cannot form baseload power.
Another reason you all seem to be jumping is the fact that the power tarrifs are designed to subsidize the poor.
Kenya’s power tariffs are at par with what I have seen in nations like Egypt and Algeria where you pay more per kwh for consuming more instead of the other way around.
The ones consuming less than 10 units in Kenya are sitting pretty. They got their power bills slashed. The largest consumers also saw a small reduction. The burden was shifted to the Middle.
Kenya Power has long complained that this structure essentially means they are subsidizing the connections which cost sh 50, 000 to connect consumers who will pay that in terms of power bills after 25 to 40 years.
That is why Kenya Power’s profitability has gone down.
Now I am not saying that Kenya Power needs to raise power bills for the poor, but a minimum of sh 500 for the poorest and a progressive power tariff would work.
An of peak discount would also work. Some Industries already get this If they gave the middle class and institutions like hospitals off peak discounts to run their washing machines and dishwashers at night as well as during the day, we would go a long way in solving the issue of excess power.
We also need electrified transport like electric trains in Nairobi and Mombasa.
That alone would actually lead to a shortage of power.