Kenya Power to Develop 20 EVs and 300 Motorcycles by June 2025

By Victor MUJIDU

Utility firm, Kenya Power has announced plans to develop 20 electric vehicles and 300 electric motorcycles by June 2025.

As of June 2023, there were 2,079 electric vehicles in the country and1,500 electric bikes.

Speaking during the launch event of an electric vehicle (EV) charging station located at Stima Plaza, the Kenya Power Managing Director, Joseph Siror, said the development of the EVs and the motorbikes will be done alongside the installation of charging stations – which will be done in phases.

“By 2026, we will have rolled out the EV charging stations in most parts of the country, and like I said, we are willing to engage the market where customers have a customer segment that we really feel that if we provided the infrastructure in a particular location, it would serve them, and we are going to be available to work very closely with them,” said Kenya Power’s Siror.

As a key player in the e-mobility program, Kenya Power is eyeing a fully electric fleet by 2027, an ambitious target that will be achieved through a mix of buying new electric units and retrofitting its current diesel and super-driven vehicles and motorcycles.

With the firm adding that the Kenyan grid capacity is sufficient to support e-mobility.

According to the Electric Mobility Taskforce 2023, Kenya has expanded the generation capacity of a well-diversified mix, with nearly 90 per cent of energy being generated from clean sources (mainly geothermal, hydro, and wind). Kenya has a total electricity installed capacity of 3,713.4 MW as of June 2023.

“Over the last three years, approximately 90 per cent of the electricity dispatched to the grid comprises clean energy from renewable sources; these include hydro, geothermal, solar, and wind.

This rises to 100 per cent during most of the off-peak hours at night, which makes the charging of EVs more environmentally friendly at this time,” he said.

The government push to decarbonize the transport sector has spurred increased interest in electric mobility in Kenya, and as an inclusionary effort to have a full transition to green energy, budgets have been set aside for the e-mobility program under the financial year 2025-2026.

“We have set aside an annual budget of Ksh20 million to set up EV charging stations at all our offices across the country. Beyond the additional charging stations that we intend to put up in the current financial year, we intend to install 10 additional facilities annually in 2025 and 2026,” added Siror.