Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited, Kenya

Hydro-power constitutes around 60 per cent of the total electricity generated in Kenya. The bulk of this electricity is tapped from five generating plants along River Tana also known as the Seven Forks. The five stations - Kindaruma, Kamburu, Gitaru, Masinga and Kiambere – combined have an installed capacity of more than 400 MW.

Sondu Miriu Power Station in Nyanza produces 60 megawatts, while Turkwel Gorge Power Station in north-western Kenya has an installed capacity of 106 MW. There are also several small hydro stations -Mesco, Ndula, Wanjii, Tana, Gogo Falls and Selby Falls - all built before independence in 1963 - with a combined generation output of 40 MW.

Geothermal energy is generated using natural steam tapped from volcanic-active zones in the Rift Valley. Some 127 MW is fed into the national grid from three geothermal plants located at Olkaria. Thermal (fuel) energy is generated in power stations at Mombasa and Nairobi and other small off-grid stations in Garissa and Lamu. KenGen’s installed capacity is projected to increase by 1342 MW between 2004 and 2018/2019 and will comprise geothermal (503 MW), hydro (220.6 MW) and thermal (568.7 MW).

 
National consumption of electricity has risen from 4.9 billion kilowatt hours in 2003/2004 to 5.1 billion in 2004/2005, and 6.9 billion kilowatt hours in 2009/2010 and should rise to 11.8 billion in 20/9/20.

Kenya is highly dependent on hydroelectricity. Hydroelectricity plants provide more than 70 per cent of all output. The main hydro stations are : Kindaruma (44 MW), Gitaru (225 MW), Kamburu (94.2 MW), Masinga (40 MW) and Kiambere (144 MW). The Turkwel Gorge Hydroelectric Station in Turkana District has a capacity of 106 MW while Sondu Miriu in Nyanza produces 60 MW.

In the recent past, hydro-power generation has been affected by recurrent droughts owing to climate change. This has therefore necessitated in the diversification of power generation modes, with a focus on clean, renewable energy, especially geothermal and wind.

KenGen is planning a 280MW geothermal project, with a total cost of $1.3 billion. It is expected that the company will have improved its capacity by about 400MW in the next four years. This represents a major strength in that KenGen will have improved its capacity to generate power from about 1,000MW to 1,500MW.

In addition, it recently commissioned 5.2 megawatts of wind-generated electric power and is planning to increase its wind capacity to 25MW by the end of 2012 in Ngong near Nairobi.

The improvement in electricity generation capacity is a direct result of the restructuring and internal transformation that KenGen has undergone in the recent past. |Thecompany’s capacity to bring in additional finance is also a major strength.