Kenyan electricity exports to Tanzania and Uganda have almost doubled in 2015 compared to the year before. Indeed, the nation has sold the two countries 46.6 million kW in 2015 against 26.9 million kW in 2014, official statistics reveal.

This was possible because of the entry into service of new geothermal power stations which added 280 MW to national grid during second half of 2014. Moreover, Kenya established a transmission line connecting it to Uganda. Uganda depends on Kenya to meet 93% of its needs in power.

Due to this increase in geothermal capacity, Kenya was able to halve its electricity imports in 2015.

With a geothermal potential of 5,000 MW which it very well intends to exploit, Kenya is likely to continue its transition from being a power importer to an exporter. In this regard, the country is experimenting methods to optimize the resource by, for example, deriving power from fumes of geothermal wells.

Gwladys Johnson