- Kenya Power reported a record high electricity demand of 2,316 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, February 12, surpassing the 2,304 MW recorded on January 15.
- The company stated that electricity consumption has been steadily rising over the past three years, with the rate of increase accelerating in 2024.
- KPLC identified the primary drivers of the demand growth as investments in stabilizing the national grid and constructing key projects like the Kimuka 220/66kV substation.
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) is about to connect 289,121 new households to the national electricity supply.
What's Kenya's electricity demand?
On Monday, February 17, the electricity distributor announced that electricity demand reached a record high of 2,316 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, February 12, surpassing the previous high of 2,304 MW on January 15.
"The company is currently implementing donor-funded last mile phases IV and V. Both projects aim to connect a total of 289,121 new customers to the national grid," KPLC stated.
Data from Kenya Power's National Control Center indicates that peak electricity consumption has been rising steadily over the past three years, with the rate of growth accelerating in 2024.
In late 2021, the demand for electricity exceeded 2,000 MW. It reached a peak of 2,100 MW in 2022. Nevertheless, it remained below 2,200 MW in 2023. However, the demand picked up again in June 2024.
"It took nearly two years for peak demand to increase by 200 MW. Nonetheless, since last June, peak demand has grown by more than 116 MW. As a result, over the past eight months, the average monthly increase in peak demand has been approximately 14.5 MW. In 2023, we experienced seven peak demand periods. By December 2024, the peak demand reached 2,288 MW, and by January, it had risen to 2,304 MW," Joseph Siror, managing director and CEO of KPLC, stated.
Improvements in KPLC's operations have led to a more stable power supply.
The utility company stated that the primary drivers of the increased demand were investments in stabilizing the national power grid and the construction of significant projects such as the Kimuka 220/66kV substation, from which four 66kV feeder lines were built to supply Nairobi and surrounding counties.
The power supply redundancy has been enhanced to ensure continuous sales, thanks to the completion of other projects, including the network reinforcement projects and the 33kV double-circuit interconnector between Narok and Bomet.
Kenya Power and Lighting Company connected 198,355 new customers to electricity in the last six months.
8. **Payment Options**: Customers can pay their electricity bills through various channels including mobile money, internet banking, and at the company's offices.
- KPLC reported a substantial rise in net profit to 9.9 billion Kenyan shillings in six months ending December 2024, up from 319 million Kenyan shillings in the same period in 2023.
- The company's stock price has risen by 268.21% over the past six months and 45.64% in the past three months.
- The electricity distributor has increased its dividend payment to 0.7 Kenyan shillings per share.