This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
Published on October 9, 2019, a new study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) highlighted the need for Kenya to invest in reliable electricity connections to reduce the use of diesel and petrol generators.
The study, titled 'The Dirty Footprint of the Broken Grid,' found that the use of thermal energy in Kenya is among the highest in the world, with the country relying heavily on back-up generators to meet its energy needs.
According to the report, the generator fleet count in Kenya stands at 100,000, with an installed capacity of over 10,000 megawatts, resulting in an estimated 1,000 GWh of power generated per year.
Reuben Wekesa, an engineer at the Kenya Electricity Generating Company, noted the significant economic and environmental costs associated with the continued use of thermal energy.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, we estimate that generators account for the majority of power sector emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), with their contribution to PM2.5 being equivalent to 35 per cent of the emissions from the entire transportation sector,” the report stated.
The study also found that the use of back-up generators is expensive, with users globally spending between $28 billion (Sh2.9 trillion) and $50 billion (Sh5.1 trillion) on fuel each year.
Operations and maintenance costs for generators could add an additional 10 per cent to 20 per cent to fuel service costs, the report noted.
Despite the high costs, many households in Kenya still rely on petrol back-up generators due to unreliable electricity connections.
“People use fossil fuel Bugs primarily because of an inability to access reliable electricity service from an area electric power system (the grid). For many, grid outages are a part of everyday life,” the report stated.
