Kenya’s electricity sector saw a rebound in local power production between July and October last year, largely driven by geothermal and solar plants. The rise came as the country faced growing electricity consumption, helping reduce reliance on imported power from neighbouring countries.
Records indicate that local generation reached 4,546.99 gigawatt-hours during the four-month period, an increase of five per cent compared to 4,344.11 gigawatt-hours in the same months of 2024.
Higher output from geothermal and solar sources offset reduced production from hydro and wind facilities, keeping the power supply steady despite rising demand.
The year 2025 has already recorded six peak electricity demand levels, reflecting the rapid increase in consumption that has prompted Kenya Power to boost imports from Ethiopia and Uganda to prevent widespread power rationing.
Since 2022, generation from local sources including geothermal, hydro, thermal, wind, and solar plants had been declining, adding pressure on the utility as new connections and usage expanded.
Geothermal energy led the growth in local production, rising eight per cent to 2,068.94 gigawatt-hours from 1,903.68 gigawatt-hours a year earlier. Solar generation also contributed to the gains, while wind energy recorded a slight improvement, reaching 145.58 gigawatt-hours compared to 142.86 gigawatt-hours previously.
However, hydro power output fell by five per cent to 1,166 gigawatt-hours from 1,226.67 gigawatt-hours, and wind production dropped to 645.27 gigawatt-hours from 665.72 gigawatt-hours.
Geothermal remains the third cheapest source of electricity for Kenya Power, behind hydro and imports. The increase in geothermal and solar generation helped ease the strain on the power utility as electricity consumption continued to climb last year.
