Solar power on grid hits record on bigger capacity
Solar panels being installed at Lunyerere in Vihiga County, Kenya, to provide hybrid power that will pump water and help cut down on the high cost of electricity bills.
The annual amount of energy generated from interconnected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems jumped by 41.84 percent to a record 443.94 gigawatt-hour (GWh)in the financial year ended June 2023, a new report shows, on bigger installed capacity as firms scrambled for cheaper power.
Interconnected solar PV systems are those linked to the national grid with the formal approval of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).
A report by Epra said the annual amount of energy generated from interconnected solar PV systems grew from 312.99 GWh.
“This is attributed to the increase in solar installed capacity,” the Epra said in a report released on Friday.
As of June 2023, Kenya’s solar installed capacity stood at 367.5 megawatts, comprising 212.6 megawatts of grid-interconnected capacity and 154.9 megawatts of captive capacity. Captive power generation refers to production exceeding one megawatt, which is consumed by the generator itself, and not sold to a third party.
In the period under review, the utility-scale installed capacity increased by 40 megawatts following the commissioning of the Alten Solar Plant in Uasin Gishu County. A power plant is categorised to be ‘utility-scale’ if its total generation capacity is one megawatts or greater.
Additionally, licensed captive capacity from solar photovoltaic systems increased by 31.37 megawatts with some 11 permits issued for production of power under this category. Those issued with permits to produce captive solar PV energy in the year ended June 2023 include DPA Kenya Limited (100 kW in Lake Bogoria Spa Resort), DPA Kenya Limited (80 kW at Nayuki Cottage Hospital), DPA Kenya Limited (760 kW at Star Plastics Limited factory), Ecoligo Limited (80 kW at Keren Roses Limited Chepsito Flower Farm) and Ecoligo Limited (80Kw at Keren Roses Limited Simotwo Flower farm).
Other permits issued include Ecoligo Limited (100 kW Keren Roses Limited at Torongo Flower Farm), Crossboundary Energy Kenya Limited, (678.5 kW at Maisha Minerals and Fertiliser Limited), Crossboundary Energy Kenya Ltd(490 kW at National Cement Company Limited, Athi River plant), Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited(10,000 kW Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited), Momnai Energy Limited (14,000 kW at the Bamburi Cement Plant, Mombasa) and Momnai Energy Limited (5000 kW for Bamburi Cement Plant in Athi River).
The Epra report showed that solar PV systems now have the highest contribution to the country’s captive generation capacity at 154.9 megawatts, which accounts for 38.53 percent of the total captive capacity.
