Kenya had Imported 40.7kWh of Electricity from Uganda up to July this year

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) official data has revealed that from January this year to July, Kenya had imported 40.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity from Uganda.

This is an increase by 32 percent as compared to last year where only 31 million kWh. This growth has been estimated to be almost a third, with reports that this was caused by the construction works at Suswa sub-station on the Maai Mahiu highway that forced them to temporarily withdraw the geothermal energy.

This is a departure from last year when East Africa’s largest economy cut by half electricity imports from Uganda following the injection of the additional 280 megawatts (MW) geothermal power to the national grid a year earlier.

The data furthers discloses that electricity exports from Kenya to Uganda dropped six percent to 23.7 million units in the reported 7 months of the year 2016, thus reversing a trend where the exports have been rising.

Kenya has a direct transmission line connecting with Uganda via Tororo, enabling bulk power trade. The supply shortfall was plugged by increased intake of a mix of imports, hydro-electric power and expensive diesel-fired electricity

Last June, Kenya cut off a third (200 megawatts) of cheaper geothermal power from the national grid due to lines maintenance, creating room for increased uptake of alternative power sources, according to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Kenyan homes and businesses consumed a monthly average of 812 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of power in the review period. Geothermal accounts for the largest share of what Kenya consumes at about 47 per cent, followed by hydro-electric power (39 per cent), while thermal is 13 percent.

Read: Kenya Power to Resume Purchase of Kerosene Generated Power from KenGen

Besides Uganda, Kenya also imports power from Ethiopia to feed Moyale town. Kenya bought 1.68 million units of power from Ethiopia in the year to July, down from 1.7 million units in a similar period last year. Uganda has been exporting electricity to Kenya under an agreement established during colonial times but renegotiated at Uganda’s insistence in 1997.

Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda plan to build a 400 kilovolt (kV) electricity line running from Olkaria via Uganda to Birembo in Rwanda while another line is planned to Ethiopia. On the overall, power exports from Kenya to the neighbouring nations dropped marginally to 25 million units from 26.5 million units.

Uganda is the largest market for Kenyan goods and has recently been pushing for increased trade with Nairobi. This is because, at 40.7 million units, Uganda accounted for 96 per cent of Kenya’s electricity imports that added up to 42.4 million units in the year to July.