This archive report was first published on 10 January 2020.
Kenya's power imports from Uganda have seen a significant increase in the past year, despite the country experiencing heavy rains that would have boosted water levels in hydropower dams and allowed for higher power production.
According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya imported 176 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power from Uganda over the 10 months to October 2019, a 60% increase compared to 110GWh imported over a similar period in 2018.
The higher imports come despite the commissioning of a 160-megawatt geothermal power plant at Olkaria last year, which was expected to reduce the country's reliance on imports.
The Ministry of Energy has attributed the increase in imports to a lack of proper infrastructure to transmit cheap power from sites like Olkaria to Western Kenya.
However, the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company is currently building a 400kV line from Olkaria to Lessos with an extension to Kisumu, which is expected to ease power access for the region.
Kenya and Uganda renegotiated their terms of power trade last year, agreeing to bring down the cost of electricity across borders. The cost of power bought from Uganda has been reduced to Sh10 per unit since June 2019, down from upwards of Sh20 in the past.
