Solar Supply to Power Grid Increases by 184pc

In the nine months leading up to September, the amount of solar energy delivered to the national grid climbed by 184% to a four-year high, supporting Kenya’s goal of having a network powered entirely by clean energy by 2030.

According to a study of official data, Kenya Power purchased 263.55 GWh of solar energy in the nine months leading up to September of last year, an increase of 2.8 times over the 92.91 GWh it purchased in the same period of 2021.

The commissioning of the Cedate and Malindi Solar facilities, each with a capacity of 40 megawatts, has led to the biggest quantity of electricity dispatched from solar plants to the national grid since it began utilizing solar energy.

Kenya has struggled with less rain over the years, which has negatively impacted hydropower production. As a result, Kenya Power has increased supplies from solar, wind, and other sources, as well as from filthy fuel generators that the State is still trying to curtail.

“We have had to increase the amounts we get from other sources, notably solar to make up for hydro that has been declining because of the poor rains,” acting Kenya Power managing director Geoffrey Muli said.

“This has involved the commissioning of new plants mainly for clean energy.”

The increase from last year increased solar energy’s percentage in the national power mix from 1% in 2021 to 2.7% in the following time.

The national grid’s proportion of hydropower fell from 36.49 percent in 2020 to 24.8% in the first nine months of last year, underscoring the negative effects of the dry weather.

The largest solar energy source for the national grid is the 52-megawatt Malindi Solar Plant, followed by the 55-megawatt Garissa Solar Plant.

The largest portion of the country’s energy mix has historically been provided by hydroelectricity, although over time, the share has decreased due to a combination of ongoing droughts and rising investments in solar, geothermal, and wind energy.

In the first nine months of 2017, Kenya Power purchased 0.29 GWh of solar energy, and the amount has increased year over year as additional solar facilities are put into operation.

In order to reduce the price of electricity by reducing supply from the pricy thermal plants, the state-owned power company is also counting on an increased percentage of solar energy and geothermal power.

The Fuel Cost Charge, one of the factors cited as the cause of the high electricity costs, is used to pay thermal power generators.

The growing importance of solar to the national grid has pushed the State to propose legislation that would allow businesses and residences to sell excess energy to Kenya Power at no cost to them.

Customers of Kenya Power who contribute excess solar power to the state electricity distributor will be able to apply the power against their monthly electricity bills under the Net-Metering Regulations, 2022.

The rules will outline how businesses and homes that use solar energy to generate less than one megawatt of power can supply their extra electricity to the national grid over the course of ten-year contracts.

Recently, households and large corporations have opted for solar power systems as a stable and more affordable source of energy.