Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) now says that it has increased the production of hydropower to stabilise the cost of power in the country.
According to KenGen, this has been facilitated by the water levels in the Seven Forks Cascade, which have hit the highest levels.
Managing Director and CEO, Eng. Peter Njenga noted that the increased production has largely been driven by Masinga Dam which has maintained near maximum water levels of 1,056 meters above sea level (mASL), over the last three days.
Masinga Dam is Kenya's largest dam.
“We are happy to report that we are receiving very good inflows from the Mount Kenya and Aberdares catchment areas which has led to high water levels at our dams,” Njenga said.
“This will see Kenyans reap the full benefit of cheaper electricity.”
KenGen further noted that its operational boost at Seven Forks has been remarkable over the last 24 hours, with the power stations recording a peak output of more than 471MW.
The power-generating company assured Kenyans who live near the dams that there would be no spillage.
Njega said reduced inflows have also been recorded over the last one week, giving further assurance that Masinga Dam will not reach spilling level any time soon.
“Despite getting close to the maximum water levels at the Masinga Dam which is our biggest, we have not reached spilling level thanks to a robust water management program being implemented by our engineers.
"We however remain vigilant and will issue an alert should we envision a potential water overflow from the large dams,” he said.
The update from KenGen comes as good news to many Kenyans who have been complaining about the rising cost of living.
As of February, Kenyans are paying as much as 16.5 per cent more for electricity after the energy regulator raised fuel and foreign exchange charges.
In its latest review, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) raised the energy charges by 8.7 per cent to Sh4.33 per unit from Sh3.98 in December.
EPRA also increased the Foreign Exchange rate fluctuation adjustment (Ferfa) charge by 103.7 per cent to a new record high of Sh6.46 per unit up from Sh3.17 set last month.
KenGen has an installed generation capacity of 1,904MW, of which over 86% is drawn from green sources namely: Hydro (826MW), Geothermal (799MW), and Wind (25.5MW). The balance is from Thermal.
