\n Kenya Power has warned that the country\u2019s growing reliance on wind and solar power is increasing the cost of keeping the electricity grid stable, as sudden changes in renewable generation force the utility to bring additional power plants online.\n <\/p>\n
\n In a statement on Tuesday, Kenya Power said wind and solar now account for 34 per cent of electricity generated during peak daytime demand of 1,900 megawatts (MW). Their share rises to 36 per cent when demand falls to about 1,200MW.\n <\/p>\n
\n The growing share of renewable energy has created a challenge because wind and solar generation is intermittent, with output changing quickly depending on wind speeds and sunlight levels. This forces Kenya Power to find alternative sources to cover shortfalls and maintain a stable electricity supply.\n <\/p>\n
\n The utility must therefore keep additional generators on standby and bring them online when renewable production falls. It also has to pay for the additional power, increasing the overall cost of maintaining a reliable supply.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cGiven the intermittent nature of wind and solar, we have no option but to dispatch and pay for generators, increasing the overall cost of power,\u201d Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror said.\n <\/p>\n
\n The pressure comes as wind and solar have grown to more than 20 per cent of the grid\u2019s firm capacity, above the 15 per cent level Kenya Power says is recommended.\n <\/p>\n
\n Siror said the take-or-pay model used in some power purchase agreements had compounded the challenge because Kenya Power may have to pay for power from generators while simultaneously bringing other plants online to balance the grid when wind and solar output fluctuates.\n <\/p>\n
\n He said this means the cost of wind and solar power cannot be considered in isolation, as the utility also incurs additional expenses to keep the grid stable when renewable generation drops.\n <\/p>\n
\n Battery storage is one option for managing fluctuations, allowing excess electricity to be stored and released when renewable production falls. Siror, however, said batteries would also face challenges when there is insufficient wind or sunlight to charge them.\n <\/p>\n
\n Kenya Power has consequently called for increased investment in more stable sources of electricity, particularly geothermal and hydropower, which can continue supplying power when wind and solar generation declines.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe Company has advised for an increase in baseload generation which is more stable and less susceptible to dips in production,\u201d Siror said.\n <\/p>\n
\n According to Kenya Power, several new sources of baseload power are expected to be added to the grid. They include 61MW from Olkaria 1, 80MW from Olkaria 7, 35MW from Globeleq Menengai, 35MW from Orpower 22 Menengai, 200MW from electricity imports from Ethiopia, 100MW from Paka Silali and 28MW from Nabuyole.\n <\/p>\n
\n The utility also said raising the Masinga Dam level by 1.5 metres is expected to increase electricity generation by 83 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kenya Power has warned that the country\u2019s growing reliance on wind and solar power is increasing the cost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21249],"tags":[633,42725,42726,348,42722,42721,2580,42723,42724],"class_list":["post-101545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national-grid","tag-business","tag-electricity-costs-kenya","tag-geothermal-energy-kenya","tag-headlines","tag-kenya-power","tag-kenya-power-warns-renewable-energy-surge-is-pushing-up-cost-of-keeping-national-grid-stable","tag-national-grid","tag-renewable-energy-kenya","tag-wind-and-solar-power"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117079446842054547","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}