Delays continue to plague efforts to boost Kenya’s supply of cheaper power

Energy Cabinet Secretary David Chirchir when he appeared before Parliamentary Public Investment Committee at County Hall in Nairobi. [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO]

NAIROBI: Kenya will have to wait a little longer for cheaper electricity from the geothermal fields of Olkaria as the delay in commissioning new power plants by State agencies in the energy sector stretches on.

The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has been upgrading its geothermal plants in Olkaria, and planned to increase its capacity by 280 megawatts (MW) by September.

This additional capacity was to be fed into the national electricity grid in phases from late last year, with the entire 280MW in use by September.

However, to date, not a single megawatt of the new capacity has materialised.

The first 70MW was to be generated from December last year, but was postponed, first to March and then May and July this year.

The new capacity from Olkaria was to play a crucial role in replacing power generated from fossil fuels by independent power producers, and thus bring down the cost of electricity.

Poor rains

Last year, the Energy and Petroleum ministry had even talked of a programme to start retiring the thermal power plants run by IPPs that use diesel to generate power.

This has, however, not been implemented, and if anything, electricity generated by the IPPs has almost doubled in the course of this year. This has mostly been due to a reduced generation capacity at hydroelectric dams after poor rains. About half of the electricity in Kenya is generated from the dams.

The ministry now says it will authorise for use the entire 280MW at a go. Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the new capacity would be commissioned in a wholesale manner as opposed to taking a phased approached.

In a phone interview Friday, he said power agencies have already started testing the infrastructure, with the process expected to be concluded in the coming months.

“We are planning to have the President commission the new capacity from Olkaria soon,” he said, but did not give specifics on when exactly this would be.