KENYA—Kenya Power, a company that owns and operates most of the electricity transmission and distribution system in Kenya, has announced that it will invest up to KSh258 million (US$1.911m) in the next three years to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in the country.
The investment includes the cost of setting up charging stations at various locations across the country and purchasing electric cars and motorbikes to aid company operations.
As part of this plan, the Company has launched an electric vehicle (EV) charging station at Stima Plaza, which cost KSh6.5 million (US$48,148) to set up.
The charging station comprises two chargers; a 50 kW DC (1 hour charging time) and a 22 kW AC (2 hour charging time) charger.
It is the second EV charging station that is owned by Kenya Power after a similar one that is located at the Ruaraka Depot which hosts the Company’s transport section.
“The future of transport is electric, and as a Company, we are very excited to be leading the conversations around E-mobility,” said Kenya Power’s Managing Director and CEO, Joseph Siror.
“Alongside our need to charge our electric vehicles, we intend to use our EV charging stations to collect data that will inform the next steps of our support to the growing E-mobility industry.”
In addition to the EV charging station located at Stima Plaza, Kenya Power will install nine other charging stations by the end of July 2024 at various Company offices across the country, including Donholm, Nakuru, Mombasa, Mtito Andei, Kisumu, Eldoret, Roysambu, Electricity House Nairobi and Ragati.
“We have set aside an annual budget of KSh20 million (US$148,423) to install EV charging stations at all our offices across the country. In addition to the additional charging stations that we intend to install in the current financial year, we intend to install ten additional facilities annually in 2025 and 2026,” said Siror.
Alongside the EV charging station, Kenya Power has also launched two electric heavy-duty vehicles that will be deployed for routine operations. The cars were purchased for KSh18 million (US$133,580).
The Company intends to increase the number of electric vehicles in its fleet by purchasing nine electric vehicles (heavy and light duty) and 25 electric motorcycles by the end of December 2024.
In 2021, Kenya Power completed the pilot of 13 electric motorcycles in its fleet in partnership with UNEP, an exercise offering invaluable E-mobility lessons.
Before this exercise, the Company piloted the use of electric-powered forklifts and pallet stackers at its warehouses for two years between the year 2016 and 2018.
The Company is now implementing the E-mobility tariff approved by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority during the recent electricity tariff review as part of its initiatives to drive the uptake of electric vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles.
To further accelerate E-mobility uptake, the Company has championed the annual E-mobility Conference, which brings together industry players to deliberate on a framework that will promote the sector’s growth.
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