- Kenya Power raises Ethiopia power import tariff to about Ksh 20 per unit.
- Ethiopian electricity now supplies over 10% of Kenya’s grid.
- Kenya plans to expand Ethiopian power imports to Marsabit and Mandera.
Kenyan electricity consumers face a new cost reality after Kenya Power agreed to pay approximately Ksh 20 (15.5 US cents) per kilowatt-hour for power imported from Ethiopia, under a renewed supply agreement that also introduces a monthly demand charge of about Ksh 800.
The agreement was signed in Addis Ababa between Kenya Power and the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU), formalising updated terms for electricity that now makes up more than 10% of Kenya’s total grid supply. This has made EEU the second largest supplier to the Kenyan grid, behind only the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen).
The original power purchase agreement, a 25 year deal signed in 2022, contained a clause permitting the tariff to be renegotiated starting in 2027. Neither Kenya Power nor EEU has offered an explanation for why the revised terms were finalised a year ahead of schedule, in 2026.
Kenya’s growing dependence on Ethiopian electricity has been shaped largely by domestic policy. A moratorium on new power purchase agreements with independent power producers has been in place since 2018 and was renewed in 2023, constraining local generation capacity even as national demand has continued to rise.
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The renewed agreement also extends a smaller, separate arrangement that has supplied electricity to Moyale and surrounding areas since 2011. Under that arrangement, EEU continues to provide three megawatts of power to about 10,500 customers in the region, a supply line kept distinct from the national grid tariff covered by the main deal.
Kenya Power said it is also holding talks with EEU to extend electricity imports to border towns in Marsabit and Mandera counties, which currently rely on diesel generators. The utility said the goal is to replace costly thermal generation in those areas with imported hydropower.
By Benedict Aoya
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