Zeddy Sambu
8 December 2009
Kenya is planning to extend the services of UK's Aggreko, the emergency power producer, in a bid to ensure consumers have adequate albeit more expensive electricity, following failure of the short rains to lift hydro-generation.
Aggreko is producing power under two rolling contracts, one which expires this month and the other in November next year.
It is the contract that is set to lapse at the end of the year that is being looked at afresh with a decision expected as early as next week.
"A decision will be made next week on whether to extend the contract ending this year," said KenGen's director for operations , Richard Nderitu.
Aggreko has two contracts with KenGen, the country's main power producer, for supply of 290 megawatts, about a fifth of the country's total interconnected capacity of 1 523 megawatts.
The last of the contracts for 140 megawatts was signed in August as the country entered a two month load shedding programme that ended at the beginning of October.
Although this contract runs for a year it has exit clauses inserted in anticipation of dams filling to capacity.
El Nino phenomenon
If the extension for the first contract is granted, it will be the second time in six months that the state is resorting to stop gap measures to address the energy deficit.
In June the diesel powered generators were given a six month extension in anticipation that the short rains, buoyed by a forecast El nino phenomenon would fill dams to capacity hydro power generation.
Emergency power producers provide consumers with a devil's alternative; suffer blackouts or access power more expensively.
Energy analysts see extension for Aggreko as the lesser of those two evils.
What option do we have if the rains are failing?" posed Dr Eric Aligula, an infrastructure expert at the public policy think tank--the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra).
Thermal power presently accounts for 40 per cent of electricity consumed during peak time demand, up from 16 per cent when the dams are full.
Power bills have shot up in tandem with fuel cost adjustments taking up Sh7.90 per unit last month compared to Sh6.60 per unit incurred in actual power use.