By Sharon Atieno (KNA)
Kenya’s power production has risen from 3,076 megawatts in 2022 to 3,243 megawatts in 2024.
The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum said the increase is in line with the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which seeks to ensure that every home is connected to electricity.
The rise in electricity generation is attributed to the Government’s increased investment in geothermal, solar and wind power production.
Kenya’s solar power generation stands at an average of 40 million kilowatts per hour (KWh) a month, a rise from 5 million KWh years ago, according to the Ministry.
Similarly, wind power generation has doubled to 150 million KWh a month while production from geothermal stands at a new high of 500 million KWh monthly.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi celebrated the achievements, adding that the Ministry has equally made tremendous progress in other areas, including expanding power transmission lines by 22 per cent, from 7,846 kilometres to 9,577 kilometres, while power distribution lines have grown by 3.2 per cent, reaching 84,853.
The number of customers served by Kenya Power increased by 8.7 per cent, from 8.92 million in 2022 to 9.69 million in 2024, according to Mr Wandayi, who was speaking on Monday, October 7, 2024, when he hosted Mr Eliud Owalo, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance and Delivery Management, to assess the Ministry’s achievements and commitments for the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
In the Petroleum sector, Mr Wandayi said there is significant reduction in demurrage costs from $2.22 million in 2022 to $496,382 in 2024.
During the review, the Ministry committed to enhancing the policy and legal framework for energy development and expediting project completions.
This includes a review of the National Energy Policy 2018 and an emphasis on clean, affordable energy generation, highlighted by the construction of four institutional biogas plants and 207 domestic biogas facilities.
The Ministry also seeks to increase electricity access and improve supply reliability to support national prosperity. Ongoing efforts include validating electricity generation and transmission projects and developing a Power Generation and Transmission Master Plan (2025-2045).