Politics and policy
KenGen MD Albert Mugo says excess energy production could hurt the
economy as consumers will be forced to pay for capacity charges on idle
plants. PHOTO | FILE
By NEVILLE OTUKI, notuki@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Kengen said it is currently compiling data from manufacturers, property developers and business lobby groups to establish the economy’s actual five-year demand for power and match it with production.
- The announcement signals a U-turn on the part of a government that has assigned itself a tight timeline of 2017 to generate 5,000MW.
- Presently, local installed power generation capacity stands at about 1,955 MW.
Electricity generator KenGen
has announced plans to scale down Kenya’s power generation target of 5,
000 megawatts amid concerns that the planned production is overstated
and could make electricity expensive.
The State-owned electricity generator has said it is
currently compiling data from manufacturers, property developers and
business lobby groups to establish the economy’s actual five-year demand
for power and match it with production.
“If we find, looking at the next five years, that
the demand for electricity is significantly lower than supply, we are
going to trim the generation of the 5,000 megawatts,” KenGen managing
director Albert Mugo said last week.
“We are quite aware that we cannot have a lot more
capacity than the demand because this will make the tariffs very
expensive,” he added.
The announcement signals a U-turn on the part of a
government that has assigned itself a tight timeline of 2017 to generate
5,000MW, mainly from renewable sources like geothermal, wind and solar.
Presently, local installed power generation capacity stands at about
1,955 MW.
Despite warnings about possible overproduction by
organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the government
has previously put on a brave face, maintaining that there would be
enough market for the extra power, including export channels to
neighbouring countries and connection of more homes to the grid.
Last week, KenGen said plans were under way to
create a pool of electricity for power transaction in the east African
economy. The setting up of power transmission lines connecting Kenya to
Ethiopia and Uganda is ongoing.
Energy secretary Davis Chirchir had earlier said that surplus power would be exported to South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Kengen says excess energy production could hurt the
economy as the consumer will be forced to pay for capacity charges on
idle plants.
The comments come just weeks after geothermal
production overtook hydro-electric power generation in October. But
power economists have also faulted the State’s energy drive.
“It is based on false load growth assumptions and
unrealistic target dates,” said Hindpal Jabbal, the lead author of a
February report on Kenya’s power sector.
The report on Kenya’s power cited the many instances where demand has been overstated.
The government’s power sector investment plan has,
for instance, allocated 1,171MW to the standard gauge railway but
independent studies show that the Kenya-Uganda electric train can only
consume 100MW factoring in maximum passenger and cargo trips.
A separate document authored by the Ministry of Energy and seen by the Business Daily
puts the energy needs for the standard gauge railway (Mombasa-
Nairobi-Malaba, Kisumu) at 18MW, putting to question the energy plan
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