Hope for cheaper power as State plans to cut system losses

The government will cut the amount of power lost during transmission to 15 per cent.

The move could potentially translate into lower bills for consumers since the losses are a major component in the tabulation of the cost of electricity. The Ministry of Energy, in a new strategy, said it plans to reduce the losses incurred due to an ageing and inefficient infrastructure as well as theft to 15 per cent by 2025 from a high of 23 per cent as of June last year.

The strategy identifies initiatives aimed at increasing energy efficiency across sectors.

“In the utilities sector, the strategy identifies the need to reduce transmission and distribution system losses from 23 to 15 per cent,” said the ministry in its Kenya National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy. It said different power sector entities, including the power producers - Kenya Power and the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) - would look into ways to “improve the efficiency of the energy supply system and delivery infrastructure”.

The power utilities are expected to undertake “cost-effective investments in supply infrastructure for reducing system losses, including upgrades to transmission and distribution infrastructure for efficient and quality power, and potential for cost-effective investments in modern energy monitoring, smart metering as well as enhancements to existing metre calibration”.

The ministry’s report noted that power system losses stood at 23 per cent as of June 2019, having risen over the years from 16 per cent in 2010 and 17.5 per cent in 2005. Industry experts have in the past estimated that one per cent of power losses translate into a revenue loss of Sh1 billion for the utility firms.

The system losses comprise technical – due to the state of infrastructure – and commercial – as a result of theft mainly from consumers.