Electricity cost could reduce if it continues raining: PS Njoroge

The cost of electricity could reduce if it continues raining and the water levels at Masinga Dam increase, Energy PS Joseph Njoroge has announced.

Masinga, which is usually closed if water levels hit 1,035 cubic metres, now has 1038.8 cubic metres.

RAIN

In February, Energy CS Charles Keter warned that the dam could be shut down if it does not rain. He warned Kenyans of higher electricity bills and power outages due to reduced water at the dam as water levels hit 1,041.5 cubic metres.

Parts of the country experienced drought since July 2016. But many parts of the country have received heavy rainfall this March, leading to floods.

Speaking to the Nation on Wednesday, Dr Njoroge assured Kenyans that water levels have increased at the electricity generating station due to the rains.

“A week ago the water levels were going down but they have now stabilised, which means the output is being matched by input,” he added.

DAM

“If we get more rains we expect to generate more power from hydro and reduce the uptake of thermal, which means the prices should come down,” Dr Njoroge added.

He said the dam should be filled by water to at least 1156 cubic metres to increase the amount of power used.

“We still have about 18 cubic metres to go. It is quite a significant depth.

“But when it rains very heavily because the ground is already soaked sometimes we get as much as one or two metres infill meaning we can realise the full storage of the dam if we continue having heavy rains,” Dr Njoroge added.

NATIONAL GRID

He said the Lake Turkana wind power project will inject 310 megawatts to the national grid while the Garissa power plant will give 50 megawatts of solar to displace the use of thermal energy.

“We should be able to get the wind power into the national grid by end of August or September from Lake Turkana which is 310 megawatts.

“By October, the Garissa power plant should be able to feed into the grid…that is solar,” Dr Njoroge said on the sidelines of a meeting at Vipingo Ridge in Kilifi.

By next year, Dr Njoroge said, the government will commission the geothermal power plant meaning the sector will not be depending on thermal energy but will be self-sufficient with renewable energy.

“Other than peak time only, we may not be depending on geothermal power.

“We will not phase out geothermal power. There is what we call security of any power system. You need a power plant that you can bring on board if something happens to the other power plants,” he explained.

SECURITY

That security, Dr Njoroge said, is a best practice for any power system.

“What we want is to reduce the uptake of the energy from thermal plants because the cost in the thermal plants is mainly the fuel.

“It is not the capacity. The capacity charges especially for a big power system are minimal but fuel cost is very high,” he said.

“That is why when we use less fuel then the bills go down. Most of the projects that we are doing are private sector driven. The Lake Turkana project is driven by private sector,” the PS added.

He said the Garissa 50 megawatts solar was an experimental project by the Rural Electrification Authority from a concessional funding by the Chinese government.

“Considering that it will be paid over a long period of time, the tariff will be about 5.6 US cents. In Mombasa we have been able to transport geothermal power all the way. We don’t have to use thermal if we have enough hydro plus wind,” he added.