Kenyans could soon pay less for electricity after Kenya Electricity Generating Company said power production from its hydro stations has gone up following heavy rains across the country.
In a new report released on Thursday, the company said water levels in major dams, especially along the Seven Forks cascade, have improved, allowing more electricity to be generated. This has helped ease pressure on the national grid.
According to KenGen, power production from hydro stations has been higher than expected in recent days. On April 28, the dams produced about 11.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, which was above the earlier estimate of 10.95 million kilowatt-hours.
The Eastern hydros contributed the largest share of this power.
Nevertheless, levels of water in key dams remain high. This is after Masinga, Kamburu, Gitaru and Kindaruma dams were established to be above the minimum threshold needed for regular power generation.
According to KenGen, the improvement in performance was made possible because of constant rains coupled with improved water management, making it possible for the firm to generate additional energy safely.
“The good performance has been made possible by consistent rains and effective water management practices by KenGen, enabling the firm to generate safe volumes of electricity,” said acting managing director & CEO Ahmed Issack.
Issack further added that the situation would make it unnecessary for the firm to generate energy from thermal energy which is mostly used whenever levels of water in dams are critically low.
“It is expected that improved performance will enable the company to reduce cost of production in order to bring down consumer rates as well since hydropower is among the least cost forms of energy production,” he said.
However, KenGen assured Kenyans that the rising water levels at various dams are under its close monitoring in case of any flood threat.
The firm states that its engineers are regulating the water levels appropriately to avoid any possibilities of uncontrolled spilling, despite the continuous inflow.
The current installed capacity of the firm is 1,786 MW, with most of the energy produced by the company being derived from renewable sources like hydropower, geothermal, and wind.
However, if the rains continue, the Kenyan public will start enjoying the effects in terms of their power costs within the next few months.