The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) Managing Director Dr. Eng. Joseph Siror has welcomed the Draft Energy Regulations, 2024 by EPRA that seek to foster efficiency and open up the power sector to more players.
Siror was speaking during the launch of the report on KPLC’s operations performance for the second quarter of the 2023-2024 financial year held at Stima Plaza in Nairobi.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has invited industry players to the stakeholder engagement workshop to share their thoughts on the Draft Energy (Electricity Market, Bulk Supply, and Open Access) Regulations, 2024 which is in line with the provisions of the Energy Act, 2019.
The workshop will be held on Monday, March 4, 2024, at the Sarova Stanley Hotel in Nairobi beginning 8.00 am to 2.00 pm. It will also be streamed live on EPRA’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Zoom.
According to EPRA, the draft regulations “aim to create a transparent, competitive, and efficient electricity market and facilitate open access to transmission and distribution infrastructure to various players including eligible customers.
In 2023, Kenya faced nationwide blackouts that affected various sectors of the economy including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), a problem that caused concerns among citizens and the business community.
In December 2023, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Davis Chirchir had to defend the government on the cause of frequent nationwide blackouts citing overloaded transmission lines as the problem.
Addressing the press in Nairobi, Chirchir said,
“To put it in simple terms, for example, Western Kenya needs 200 megawatts, yet the transmission means can say only carry 100 megawatts. When the system tries to draw more power to support the 200 megawatts, the transmission gives way because it cannot carry that capacity.”
Chirchir also suggested load shedding in some parts of the country and the construction of more transmission lines in partnership with the private sector to prevent tripping the electricity system and causing nationwide power outages.
The blackouts also saw the cabinet led by William Ruto hold a meeting in State House Nairobi to discuss measures to tackle the electricity problem in the country.
The meeting resolved that the transmission line system should be unbundled to ensure that the whole country is not thrown into darkness if one line fails.
The cabinet also agreed that the Bomet-Narok line would be constructed to deal with the overloading of transmission lines that leads to outages. The line was funded in 2016 but as of 2023 had not been built following legal disputes.
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