NAIROBI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) — Kenya connected about 8.6 million households to electricity in December 2021, up from 7.3 million in January 2020, the energy regulator said on Thursday.

Daniel Kiptoo, chief executive of the Petroleum and Energy Regulatory Authority (EPRA) told reporters that Kenya is the only country in East Africa to have access to electricity for more than 75 % of its population.

“Increased access to electricity is a big boost towards achieving the country’s National Development Plan Vision 2030, which aims to transform Kenya into a middle-income newly industrialized country by 2030,” said Kiptoo in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, when releasing the Energy and Petroleum Statistics Report 2021.

Kiptoo said the country’s total installed electricity capacity in the country, including off-grid power, was 2,990 MW at the end of 2021.

According to the energy regulator, Kenya’s energy mix consists of hydro at 838 MW, geothermal at 863 MW, wind at 437 MW, solar at 173 MW, thermal at 677 MW while biomass is at 2%.

Kiptoo observed that most electricity is generated from renewable sources, making Kenya a world leader in renewable energy.

He observed that the state-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) is the largest power producer in the county, accounting for 62.98% of the country’s effective generation capacity, followed by independent power producers ( PPI) which represent 35.95%.

The energy regulator noted that off-grid generation under the rural electrification program accounts for the remaining 1.07%. ■