The electrical power sector in Africa is rapidly evolving as countries adopt novel and disruptive approaches/technologies to fulfil electrification goals, and stimulate private investment in order to ensure supply adequacy and grow their economies.
This all while remaining cognisant of the requirement for a sustainable sector via combinations of energy efficiency (EE), solar water heater (SWH) deployments, frameworks for net metering and Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) for embedded generation, utility scale renewables projects and Demand Side Participation (DSP). The consequence of these novel and disruptive approaches/technologies means that the unidirectional power-flow through distribution utilities and municipalities (from bulk suppliers to off-takers) is changing. As a result, reduced energy sales are expected, while still having to cover fixed costs including components of bulk purchase costs from existing suppliers, overheads as well as network investment and maintenance costs. This paper focusses on the impact of the abovementioned novel and disruptive approaches/technologies, via a case study on the main distribution utility in Kenya, Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC).
Read more about these impacts, and explore Energy Exemplar’s findings.