Hydropower production has dropped from 839mw to 560mw in the last couple of months due to the on-going drought, according to Energy ministry Principal Secretary Alex Kamau.
This, he said, has pushed the government to increase the use of thermal power in a bid to cover the deficit from the hydropower plants and meet the peak demand.
Kamau said the ongoing rains had little effect on the water levels in various dams terming the situation as dire.
He said that water levels in Masinga dam had risen by a mere two meters, noting that this had little effect on hydro power production at a time when demand was on the rise.
“Hydropower stands at 839mw but currently we are doing 560mw forcing us to shift to thermal which is expensive so that we can meet our peak demand,” he said.
Appearing before the parliamentary committee on energy, Kamau decried the rising cases of transformer theft noting that Kenya Power was losing 4 to 5 units every day.
He said that this had major implications on the economy and the power company, which is currently facing financial challenges.
“We are asking parliament to enact stringent laws as we are losing up to twenty transformers every week and this has a major impact on the economy,” he said.
The PS told the committee more than 2,160kms of transmission lines have been constructed to evacuate power from various power stations in the country.
Kenya Power managing director Geoffrey Muli said that the company is in the process of procuring 600,000 meters this financial year to address the current shortage.
He admitted that the shortage had affected many consumers keen to be connected to electricity, adding that procurement of 95,000 meters was already complete.
On the power retailer's financial situation, he said the company was owed Sh22 billion up from Sh19 billion in the last financial year a situation that is greatly affecting its affecting its operations.
“We are currently operating at a negative working capital of Sh55 billion and this is an improvement from Sh80 billon a couple of years back,” he said.
The Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) chief executive Peter Mbugua warned that the budget cut from Sh3 billion to Sh500 million would affect their plans.
“We have so far connected over 22,900 public schools to electricity and the budget cut to REREC will definitely hurt our operations,” he said.
