Kenya to Begin Sale of Power to Rwanda in 2015

Posted on : Wednesday, 17th December 2014

KENYA will export power to Rwanda from next year to help the country meet its growing demand for electricity at lower costs.

 

The two East Africa Community member states yesterday signed the power trade deal in which a 220 KV line will be built from Kenya to Rwanda through Uganda to transmit the 30 MW of power to be sold tentatively from July.

 

Under the Power Purchase Agreement signed, Kenya will charge 12 US cents per kilowatt hour for the electricity sold to Rwanda while Uganda, through which the transmission line will pass, will impose a wheeling charge of 2.08 US cents.

 

"We have 160MW of installed capacity and demand for about the same so we operate at no spinning reserve," said Rwanda's Energy Development Corporation managing director Robert Nyamvumba.

 

Kenya is developing geothermal power and has increased its output to 2,079 by end June according to Kenya Power.

 

"There will definitely be more than enough energy produced going by the rate at which we are growing," said Kenya Power MD Ben Chumo.

 

Chumo said power trade deals within the region have been previously hampered by lack of sufficient transmission infrastructure.

 

Uganda Electricity Transmission Company CEO Eriasi Kiyemba said the 2005 drought that affected hydro power generation in East Africa was a wake up call that spurred diversification of energy sources and need to create a resource pool to share power in times of need.

 

"Because of weak interconnection at the time we could not help each other and had to turn to expensive power," said Kiyemba at the signing ceremony.

 

Since September, 140mw of electricity have been added to the national grid in Kenya from geothermal generation and another 70 is expected to be loaded by end December.

 

The deal was spurred by EAC heads of state who agreed in a recent regional economic summit to share cheaper generation capacity as it becomes available.