The Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) is set to integrate solar into 20 of its diesel power plants to cut its current annual Sh1.16 billion fuel bill and lower consumer prices.
Rerec Chief Executive Officer, Rose Mkalama, said that the Treasury has already approved the project, which will see the power plants primarily run on clean energy, relegating diesel to a back-up fuel.
Besides cutting fuel bills, the hybridisation will ease power bills for customers relying on these plants, given that thermal power is the most expensive and has saddled consumers with steep bills. Solar is currently the fourth-cheapest source of power in the national grid.
“The hybridisation of these plants is a win-win for the customers and us. It will free up money to connect more customers and even bigger to help lower the cost of electricity,” Dr Mkalama said.
“The cost of fuel is going up, and this significantly impacts the economics of these stations. The change will help bring down our fuel costs and lower the cost of electricity to the customers.”
A document from the Treasury shows that Rerec estimates the monthly fuel bill for the 20 stations at Sh96.9 million or Sh1.162 billion a year. Rising prices of diesel in the wake of the Iran war have further added to the operational costs, eating into the revenues that the 20 plants book from the electricity sold.
Thermal power is the most expensive, with a kilowatt-hour (kWh) priced at an average of Sh26.9 in June 2025, ahead of solar at Sh11.13 per kWh, wind at Sh9.53 per kWh.
Locally generated hydropower remains the cheapest, with a kWh costing an average of Sh2.51 as at June last year, ahead of imported hydro and geothermal at Sh6.85 and Sh7.29 per kWh, respectively.
Rerec is battling high fuel bills that continue to eat into the revenues made from the sale of electricity to the customers relying on the 20 diesel-powered power plants.
“The diesel costs for the twenty diesel stations (plants) are approximately Sh96.9 million per month. The overall operations and maintenance costs of the hybridised diesel stations will reduce significantly as the diesel component will only be a backup while the renewable energy will provide the base load,” Rerec says in a document on this project.
Rerec owns the 50 Megawatt peak (MWp) Garissa solar plant in addition to 26 standalone solar mini-grid power stations primarily serving the counties of Wajir, Marsabit, Turkana, Garissa and Mandera.
Dr Mkalama added that the hybridisation would also help increase the capacity of these off-grid stations to meet the rising power demand.
Most of these plants were built more than 10 years ago, and their capacities have remained unchanged despite the growing demand for electricity in these areas.
The hybridisation of the diesel plants will increase Rerec’s contribution of clean energy from 60.498 MWp to 78.870MWp by 2027.
