Kenya Electricity Generating Company


Kenya Electricity Generating Company or simply KenGen is a company, the largest power producing company in Kenya producing about 69% of the electricity consumed in the country. Shege Ébalé.

Overview

KenGen relies on various sources to generate electricity ranging from hydro, geothermal, thermal and wind. Hydro is the leading source, with an installed capacity of 821 MW, which is 52.3% of the company's installed capacity.
The company owns 30 hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 818 MW, five thermal power plants of 256 MW, six geothermal power plants of 698 MW and one Wind power plant at Ngong of 26 MW, resulting in a total installed capacity of 1796 MW.
Presently KenGen owns four geothermal power stations, namely: Olkaria I and Olkaria II, Olkaria I unit 4 and 5, Olkaria IV and Olkaria V.
The power stations are Nakuru County within the great Rift Valley adjacent to the Hell's Gate National Park, and also bordering Lake Naivasha.

History

The company was founded on 1 February 1954 as the Kenya Power Company and was commissioned to construct the transmission line between Nairobi and Tororo in Uganda. This was to transmit power generated at the Owen Falls Dam to Kenya. KPC was also tasked to develop electricity generating facilities in the country.
KPC was managed by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company under a management contract. In January 1997, the management of KPC was formally separated from Kenya Power as a direct result of reforms being under taken in the energy sector and the entire economy. Subsequently, on 19 January 1998 the company changed its name from Kenya Power Company to Kenya Electricity Generating Company. The trading name KenGen PLC was also adopted at this point.
In 2006, KenGen was listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange after the Government of Kenya sold 30 percent of its stake in the company through a successful initial public offering that received over 280,000 applications.

Ownership

KenGen currently has 2,198,361,456 shares. The stock of Kenya Electricity Generating Company is listed on the NSE, where it trades under the symbol: KEGN
RankName of OwnerPercentage Ownership
1Government of Kenya70.00
2Others30.00
Total100.00

List of power stations and installed capacity

See also List of power stations in Kenya

Current capacity

The current capacity of KenGen's power stations are;

Hydroelectric

KenGen plans to more than double its electricity generating capacity to 4,270 megawatts by 2025 at a cost of $8.1 billion.

Geothermal