Kenya said it planned to rely on imports to lower the cost of electricity for household and industrial consumers, a government official said on Wednesday.
Daniel Kiptoo, Director General of the Energy, and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, told journalists in Nairobi, that neighbouring East African countries such as Ethiopia had abundant sources of power that they were willing to sell to Kenya.
“Some of our neighbours have a cheaper average cost of generation of electricity and these imports will help to bring down our costs,” Kiptoo said during a public participation workshop on Kenya’s oil pipeline tariffs.
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Kiptoo added that Kenya had already signed a power purchase agreement with Ethiopia to purchase 200 MW of power beginning in November.
He stated that the Ethiopia-Kenya electricity transmission interconnector with a length of 612 km on the Kenyan side would be completed in October in readiness for the imports.
According to the electricity regulator, the Kenya-Tanzania and the Kenya-Uganda electricity lines were currently under construction.
Kiptoo said the country’s total installed electricity generating capacity was approximately 2,990 MW.
