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Expect cheaper power, KenGen says as water dams fill

A customer keys in toxens into her metre box. (Photo: X)

By Ibrahim Omar | Monday, February 5, 2024

Masinga, Kamburu, Gitaru, Kindaruma, and Kiambere dams have filled up sufficiently, enabling the generation of more hydropower.

Consumers will soon enjoy cheaper power as dams in the Seven Forks scheme have filled in recent times leading to increased production of hydropower, KenGen said on Monday.

The Kenya Electricity Generating Company, which produces about 72 per cent of the country’s electricity, said that Masinga Dam, the country’s largest, has filled up due to a high influx of water from the Mt Kenya region.

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The company said the five dams in the cascade – Masinga, Kamburu, Gitaru, Kindaruma and Kiambere – have filled up sufficiently, enabling the generation of more hydropower.

“We are happy to report that we are receiving very good inflows from the Mount Kenya and Aberdares catchment areas, which has led to high water levels at our dams,” said KenGen Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Peter Njenga. “This will see Kenyans reap the full benefit of cheaper electricity.”

The company, which is listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), said its operational boost at Seven Forks has been remarkable over the last 24 hours, with the power stations recording a peak output of more than 471MW, which will go a long way in stabilising grid-scale electricity costs.

KenGen further allayed fears of water spills, especially for Kenyans living near the five dams.

“Despite getting close to the maximum water levels at the Masinga Dam, we have not reached spilling level thanks to a robust water management programme being implemented by our engineers,” said Mr Njnga. “We however remain vigilant and will issue an alert should we envision a potential water overflow from the large dams."

Hydropower is the cheapest source of electricity in Kenya and beats other sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and thermal.

The heavy El Nino rains that the country has received since October have enabled the country’s dams to fill, reversing the effects of the severe drought experienced before, which emptied the dams and led to fears of power rationing.

A bumper hydropower generation means that the country will not need to generate huge amounts of the more expensive electricity, especially thermal power, which is the most expensive of all sources as it uses fuel.

Kenya also has the added assurance of power from Ethiopia, from where the country started importing 200MW in January 2023 to help plug the local generation deficit.

KenGen's announcement is a relief for millions of Kenyans struggling to pay some of the highest electricity supply charges on record.

Last month for instance, Kenya’s poor citizens were hit with an increase in electricity prices of about 17.3 per cent, further increasing the burden of the rising cost of living