By Antony Mutunga
Kenya’s reliance on renewables continues to show no signs of stopping, as the country recorded an increase in the amount of solar energy supplied to the national grid. This has continued to put the country on the map as one of the leading countries to shift to green energy.
Kenya is approaching the target with a vision to hit 100% reliance on clean energy by 2030. According to data from Kenya Power, it bought 263.55GWh of solar energy between January and September 2022. This was an increase compared to 2021, whereby it bought 92.91GWh. The growth is due to the commissioning of two solar plants, the Malindi and Cedate solar plants. With a capacity of 40MW each, their addition has seen the electricity produced by solar plants hit its highest level.
As a result of the increase, the market share of solar energy in the national grid has increased from 1% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2022, while that of hydropower has dropped from 36.5% in 2020 to 24.8%. This has been mainly due to the drought experienced in the country. The drought and increased investment have been key in the increased reliance on clean energy.
Kenya Power customers who supply their excess solar power to the electricity distributor will be allowed to offset the power against their monthly electricity bills.
Compared to 0.29GWh of solar power that Kenya Power first bought between January and September 2017, there has been a rise in the reliance on solar and wind power. With no intention to slow down the shift, the government has moved to develop policies that ensure homes and businesses can net off excess power at zero financial cost to Kenya Power.
According to the net-metering regulations, 2022, Kenya Power customers who supply their excess solar power to the electricity distributor will be allowed to offset the power against their monthly electricity bills. The regulations will guide how homes and firms producing less than 1MW of energy from solar can supply their excess electricity to the national grid under 10-year contracts.
In coming years, even before the target of 2030, Kenya may have attained a 100% shift to renewable energy with continued support and investment. In fact, according to Joseph Odongo Oketch, the Director, Electricity & Renewable Energy, at Kenya’s Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), from the installed capacity perspective, the renewable energy component is around 80%. In comparison, from the actual energy dispatch from the power plants, we are more than 90% renewable. (
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