(3 Minutes Read)
These losses accrue from leakages due to illegal connections or shaky transmission
Electricity losses by Kenya Power have remained above the allowed limit after years, highlighting the utility’s struggles to supply reliable power. System loss is the difference between total net generation and energy sales on the system expressed as a percentage of net generation. These losses accrue from leakages due to illegal connections or shaky transmission.
An analysis shows that system losses hit 23.2 percent in December last year, meaning that the utility lost 1,578.9 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) that it bought between July and December.
Kenya Power has breached the limit on allowable electricity losses despite the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) increasing the allowable losses by five percentage points to 19.9 percent in July 2020. The losses highlight Kenya Power’s struggles to meet reliable supply, hitches that have forced homes and businesses to pursue alternative power sources, notably solar and biomass.
The losses stood at 23.49 percent in December 2022, up from 22.43 percent in a similar period of 2021 and 25.21 percent a year before. A rise in the system losses means more pain to the company given that the losses are not passed on to consumers. Kenya Power booked system losses of 23.7 percent in July last year and closed the year at 25 percent.
Kenya Power is grappling with a rising number of consumers switching to their own sources like solar and biomass as the users, especially firms, seek more reliable and cheaper electricity. Large power consumers have in recent years stepped up efforts to set up their own power systems, triggering concerns from Kenya Power.
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The regulator increased tariffs by 15 percent to 20 percent on average from April last year, with Kenya Power set to take home at least 10 percent of the additional billions of shillings every year.
