Kenya Power and Lighting Company(KPLC) is set to spend Kes10 billion on network expansion as the firm seeks to connect more homes with power.

The company says it will build substations and power lines in July 2023.

KPLC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joseph Siror said the investment aligns with the company’s strategy to strengthen the network for improved quality and reliability of power supply to its customers.

During the launch of BasiGo’s first public electric bus charging station, Siror stated that the strategic grid investments will provide sufficient capacity for the anticipated increase in energy demand resulting from new growth areas such as e-mobility and clean cooking, as envisioned by the utility.

“In the last two years, the country has witnessed an unprecedented interest from local and international stakeholders looking to invest and develop Kenya’s e-mobility sector,” Siror said.

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Further, Siror noted that the injection will adequately support e-mobility and other sectors of the economy, to sustain investments to strengthen the grid and enhance network stability and flexibility for quality and reliable service.

In the last ten years, the firm has connected 9 million customers out of 2.7 million and with the uptake of electric vehicles growing, the firm expects demand to increase.

“Today, our grid is robust to support electric vehicle charging, with a recent study indicating that Nairobi’s current power infrastructure is strong enough to support the switch to electric for 100% of the two-wheeler vehicles in the city and 10% for other vehicles including private and commercial fleet. We want to improve this further through strategic investments that will enhance the flexibility of the network to support this growing industry,” said Siror.

Currently, the country has an installed capacity of 3,321MW against a peak demand of 2,132MW.

During off-peak, the demand drops to about 1,100MW, creating a good opportunity for high-capacity electric vehicle charging, which utilises unused power.

Apart from the planned investment in grid expansion, the company has established an e-mobility steering committee to guide the organisation toward ensuring the success of the e-mobility sector.