Kenya is witnessing a surge in electricity demand of late, due to booming economy. At present, demand for power is approximately 1050MW compared to the installed capacity of 1100MW. Kenya Power Supply Company, the national power distributor, has recently announced that the nation is experiencing a power shortage of 70MW at certain times of the day. Further, a dry spell at one of the hydro dams of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company had forced it to generate less electricity by 40MW, 60% of its capacity.
Speaking at a press conference, Kiraitu Murungi, energy minister of the East Africa’s biggest economy, said that the government is planning to build a 26MW power plant from sugar cane by-products and a 244MW thermal power plant. In addition, Kenya is also trying to save as much as 50MW by distributing 1.25m energy efficient light bulbs, reported the newspaper.
