Kenya Power pledges to support country’s e-mobility switch

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Kenya Power pledges to support country's e-mobility switch
Kenya Power pledges to support country's e-mobility switch

Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Power has pledged to support the country’s move to switch to electric vehicles and motorcycles as part of its green initiative.

Even so, the firm did not give a detailed plan in terms of capacity on how it will power e-mobility in the country.

Currently, the country has installed a capacity of 2,791Megawatts against a peak demand of 1926 Megawatts, leaving little if Kenya Power was to support the e-mobility agenda. The country is targeting an installed capacity of 5000 Megawatts by 2030.

The power distributor is a member of a consortium that comprises private and public sector players, which is actively pursuing the e-mobility agenda through negotiations for a favourable environment to support investments in e-mobility.

Among the issues the consortium is seeking to address is the enactment of a legal framework that will support e-mobility in the country, as well as the development of policies that will guide the installation of infrastructures such as charging stations for electric vehicles and motorbikes.

“The evolution of clean energy locally and globally, as witnessed in the last decade, presents exciting times for the energy sector and its stakeholders,” Kenya Power ag. managing director & chief executive officer Rosemary Oduor said.

She added that as the face of the sector, they are developing strategies to deepen the adoption of clean energy.

Last year, they were involved in the pilot of the e-mobility programme in the country and they took up electric motorbikes for use by their staff.

Oduor said that this programme provided very useful lessons that the Company has taken note of to implement initiatives that will support the implementation of the e-mobility agenda in the country.

With them playing an active role in driving the clean energy agenda, their electricity mix today comprises more than 92 per cent renewable energy.

This increased uptake of green energy, not only enables them to drive the green energy agenda, but has also cured the concentration risk attendant to over-reliance on hydro sources, which are affected by weather conditions such as the drought we are presently experiencing.

“We are doing this by riding on emerging technologies, particularly in electricity storage-for intermittent sources such as solar and wind to enhance their availability, thus enabling us to deploy them more efficiently,” Oduor said.

They are also enhancing deployment of renewable energy such as solar. As of June this year, they had constructed and commissioned 21 solar mini-grids in off-grid plants. They are planning to construct 100 more with support from World Bank.

In addition, they have implemented an energy efficiency programme that is currently targeting large power consumers, with the goal being to scale it to small and medium enterprises, as well as domestic customers.

The adoption of energy efficiency practices not only promotes the efficient use of available electricity and the power distributor has found that it contributes immensely to increased customer satisfaction.

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