Kenya Power Lighting Company PLC (Kenya Power) owns and operates most of the electricity transmission and distribution system in Kenya. Kenya Power sells electricity to over 8,9 million customers. Its transmission and distribution network covers 248,834 km, and this has enabled it to ensure that at least 75% of the country’s population have access to the national grid.
To sustain profitability and grow shareholder value, Kenya Power is looking to leverage new business frontiers as part of its five-year Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2028. Some of the key pillars of this new growth plan include electric mobility, getting more Kenyans to shift to electric cooking, energy storage, and electrification of several sectors to support decarbonization.
Kenya Power, as a key stakeholder, has therefore been at the forefront when it comes to promoting electric vehicles in Kenya. Utility companies are some of the largest fleet operators and are good candidates for electrification. Kenya Power has been exploring opportunities in the electric mobility sector for a while. Kenya Power ran a pilot program with 13 electric motorcycles. Kenya Power’s meter reading & revenue collection teams have been using electric motorcycles as part of a broader pilot program in which the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has partnered with Powerhive, Kenya Power, Kisumu County, and the Friends of Karura Forest. The meter readers’ routes are perfect for electric vehicles. They have set routes and zones that they visit per day. Kenya Power has recently completed that pilot program for the motorcycles. Kenya Power plans to phase out fossil fuel powered vehicles and motorcycles from its fleet and replace them with electric vehicles.
Kenya Power also plans to roll out EV charging infrastructure across the country. In a move aimed at incentivizing the adoption of electric vehicles as well as investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Kenya Power is proposing a special tariff for electric vehicle charging as part of its proposed overall tariff review. Kenya Power has submitted a tariff review to the energy regulator that if approved will see tariffs go up by over 70%. This will see homes paying as much 35 Kenya Shillings per kWh (28 USD cents/kWh). Kenya Power wants to increase tariffs to help upgrade its aging transmission and distribution network
The proposed tariff for residential customers, excluding the boatload of levies and taxes, will be 21,68 Kenya shillings/ kWh. The proposed tariff for electric mobility will be 17 Kenya shillings per kWh. For the E-Mobility Tariff, this will be for consumption between 200 and 15,000-kilowatt hours. Kenya Power proposes to hold this tariff at that rate for the next 5 years to incentivize investment in the e-mobility sector. So, the proposed e-mobility tariff will be lower than the residential tariff.
A special e-mobility tariff is a welcome development and will come at the right time as several players are ramping up investments in the electric vehicle sector. Kenya’s e-mobility scene is getting a lot of attention, especially in the electric motorcycle and electric bus sector. Developers of battery swap centers for electric motorcycles, as well as investors in the EV charging infrastructure, will be excited about this latest development.
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