Electricity consumption by households and factories crossed a record one billion units in May, pilling pressure on the government, which is already increasingly tapping supplies from neighbouring countries to avert widespread rationing as demand outpaced domestic generation.
Latest official data shows that the uptake of electricity from the national grid crossed a billion units for the first time in May, pointing to increased consumption.
Kenya Power, the near-monopoly power distributor, sold a record 1.03 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh or units) of electricity in the review month, analysis of the data collated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows.
The data indicate electricity demand is growing at a pace that is not being matched by local generation, prompting the government to rely on imports from neighbouring countries to avoid widespread rationing and blackouts.
The power purchases from the grid in May represented a growth of 10.44 percent from 933.28 million units a month earlier and 15.49 percent over 892.43 million kWh in the same period of the prior year.
The demand in May against total generation and imports of 1.246 billion units left the grid with a spinning reserve of 215 million kWh— the lowest seen in years.
Kenya Power has, over the years, warned that thinning extra capacity in the grid could result in widespread rationing.
Kenya, on August 5, 2025, reached a historic electricity peak demand of 2,363.41 megawatts (MW), a slight increase from the previous record of 2,362.28 MW witnessed on July 23, 2025, pointing to a steady growth amid economic expansion, industrial growth, and increasing electrification.
President William Ruto has pledged to add 5,000 MW to the grid by 2030—more than the capacity Kenya has installed historically. The country has an installed capacity of 3,243 MW as of October 2024, with 240 MW of that having been added less than three years ago.
“Over the medium term, the government will build on the progress made by strengthening policy guidelines and laws to enhance energy generation, transmission, and distribution aimed at connecting 1,440,000 new customers and 1,080 public facilities to electricity,” the Treasury wrote in the draft 2024 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
“Interventions will involve: drilling of 34 geothermal wells; construction of 1,742 kilometres transmission lines and 21 transmission substations; construction of 1,050 kilometres distribution lines and 33 distribution substations; installation of 19,500 street lighting points; and construction of 55 institutional and 1,800 household biogas plants to enhance power grid resilience, improve service delivery, and ensure long-term energy sustainability” it added.
The electricity demand, which is not being matched by generation, has seen the country increasingly tap power from north-neighbouring Ethiopia, which supplied 522.94 million units of power in the first five months of the year.
The country also tapped more than it sold to Tanzania and Uganda.
Uganda exported 97.92 million kWh to Kenya in the January-May 2025 period while importing 18.03 million units, the KNBS data shows, while Tanzania’s sales to Kenya were 29.75 million units against 23.12kWh purchases.
“We are reorganising that space. Just give me a bit of time, and we will have a clearer picture. By God’s grace, before 2030, we should have doubled the grid that we have. And we should try to do it with renewable energy. We are also looking at other power alternatives, including nuclear energy and all the other power sources. We are clear on how that is going,” Dr Ruto told business leaders on August 6.
This has come at a time when the country is witnessing a gradual transition to electric mobility (e-mobility) in major cities, a shift that is now being incentivised by the government.
“Transitioning to electric mobility (e-mobility) remains a priority intervention of the government’s inclusive green growth and climate action plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution while at the same time meeting the mobility needs of consumers,” the Treasury wrote in the BPS.
“In addition to lowering carbon emissions, these [electric] vehicles and motorcycles are economically friendly. Additionally, electric vehicles and motorcycles are an important breakthrough toward bettering air quality and easing traffic in busy cities because of their quiet operation and lower running costs as compared to diesel buses.”
