Power bills set to drop as BIGGEST geothermal power plant in Africa is commissioned by the President

The government has announced that the cost of electricity will drop by about 30% before the end of this year. This comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned a 140 Megawatt geothermal power plant in Naivasha

The commissioning of Olkaria 4 geothermal power plant is expected to put a smile on Kenyans’ faces as soon as December this year.

The new plant is expected to inject an additional 140 MW of electricity in to the national grid, which is 8.5% of Kenya’s total installed capacity of 1,664 Megawatts. An additional 70 MW will also be loaded to the national grid by next month (November) which will see the cost of electricity coming down by a further 10%

This new renewable energy from geothermal will reduce Kenya’s reliance on hydro generated power, which accounts for 65% of the total installed capacity and is prone to erratic weather patterns. This also means that Kenya will stop relying heavily on independent power producers who use diesel to generate electricity and sell it at exorbitant prices to the government

The overall cost of living is also expected to come down as manufacturers lower the prices of their goods . Local manufacturers consume 60% of all power produced in Kenya. Some of the large industries in the country  pay up to Sh 100 million in monthly bills , which means, a 40% reduction in power prices will see them saving up to Sh 40 million every month. With the reduced cost, companies will pass on the benefits to consumers hence lowering the cost of their products

To achieve its ambitious plan of an additional 5,000 MW by 2017, the government has promised another 61 MW expected from Kinangop Wind power project, 300 MW from Lake Turkana wind power project, 400 MW from Ethiopia, 900 from an LPG power plant to be set up in Mombasa, 900 MW from a coal fired power plant in Kitui and another 1,200 MW to be generated from Menengai in Nakuru county.

However, there is a concern about the level of power leakage normally witnessed in the country . Currently, Kenya loses about 20% of the power produced through inefficient transmission and theft . This mean that out of the 1,200 MW produced,  360 MW are lost or unaccounted for.