Kenya: Epra weighs Tanzania's import of Ethiopia electricity through Kenya
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) is concluding the review of a deal to transport 100MW of power from Ethiopia to Tanzania, which will see Kenya's infrastructure used for the deal.
Epra's Director-General Daniel Kiptoo said the authority has already gone through a preliminary analysis of the proposal, and hopes to conclude the approval process this month.
The Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) entered into a deal with Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) to sell 100MW of power, which will see the two use Kenya Electricity Transmission Company's (Ketraco) infrastructure for the transit.'We received a request for moving of the power from Ethiopia between EEP, Ketraco which has the transmission line and Tanesco for the moving of 100MW of power from Ethiopia to Tanzania,' Mr Kiptoo said.'We are processing the applicationit. We've done a preliminary analysis, we've taken it through the rigours of getting whole approval.'The parties sought Epra's approval- the energy sector regulator, in accordance with the law.
Read: Kenya, Tanzania to start cross-border electricity trade on WednesdayTanzania plans to import 100MW power from Ethiopia to boost electricity supply in northern parts, the country's Energy Permanent Secretary Felchesmi Mramba said this week.
In the deal, Ethiopia and Tanzania will use Kenya as a transit route for the power, with Ketraco's transmission lines used to move the power. Ketraco will charge the parties a wheeling fee for the use of its transmission lines.'We are in the process of reviewing both technical and economic parameters,' Mr Kiptoo said.
Epra said it projects to have made a final decision on the approval of the deal by end of this month.
In 2024, Kenya and Tanzania commissioned a 510-kilometre electricity interconnector line running from Isinya through Namanga to Arusha.
The line is key for the operationalisation of the regional power pool, allowing power utilities in the region to buy and sell electricity from each other.
The Kenya-Ethiopia interconnector, which is over 1,000 kilometres long and runs from Woloyta-Sodo in Ethiopia to Suswa Substation, is operational. The interconnector, commissioned in 2022, has enabled Kenya to import electricity from Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd).
© Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
23-04-2025
- Zawya
Kenya begins $24mln asset valuation in run-up to major accounting overhaul
Kenya's National Treasury has directed government accounting officers to identify and value public assets by June, as the Executive moves to adopt a new financial reporting standard that records income and expenses when earned or incurred—not when cash changes hands. Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo, in a circular dated April 14, 2025, seen by The EastAfrican, also instructed the accounting officers to appoint project managers and establish cash-to-accrual transition committees at entity level to oversee the switch.'In financial year 2024/2025, accounting officers are required to identify all the assets in their control or use, irrespective of proof of ownership and whether or not they can determine their values. Entities are required to report on all assets under their control. Where entities can identify and determine the values of assets, these should be recorded in the financial statements as early as possible," the memo said. Members of the cash-to-accrual transition committees will be drawn from various departments or directorates of the implementing entities and should include accounts, finance, public works, human resources, internal audit, ICT and asset management departments. The project manager will be appointed from among the staff of the implementing entity. The Treasury in February this year approved the valuation of all assets that Kenya owns as part of the move to shift the government's operations to a new reporting plan by 2027. The Cabinet approved the transition on March 7, 2024 and in August the same year the National Treasury assembled a steering committee chaired by Dr Kiptoo to oversee the transition from the cash-based accounting system that has been in use since 2014. The project whose total cost is estimated at Ksh3.1 billion ($24 million), is supported and supervised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Kenya has set a three-year roadmap (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2027) to consolidate all government assets and liabilities into a single balance sheet that will show the state's true financial position and help save on the cost of foreign borrowing. Treasury says the policy shift will improve transparency in the management of public debt and pending bills and help the government negotiate cheaper loans from foreign lenders. The identified asset classes for valuation include land, natural resources, road and rail infrastructure, electricity generation and distribution, water infrastructure and intangible assets. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
16-04-2025
- Zawya
Will Kenya, Uganda dalliance with Gulf oil majors deliver cheap fuel?
Kenya's energy regulator is managing consumer expectations after a review of fuel costs as a result of the renewed deal with State-owned Gulf companies, noting that the cost reduction was purely driven by market forces. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) says global crude oil prices keep fluctuating and this will impact the newly negotiated price reduction of up to 14 percent on petroleum products imported from the three firms — Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc). Epra director-general Daniel Kiptoo told The EastAfrican that the agreement allows each party to renegotiate prices.'It is a double-edged sword. The market keeps changing. We also have to keep adjusting. Prices go up, we go up, prices come down, we go down,' he said.'If geopolitics plays out as it did early last year, and there are missiles flying and driving up freight prices, what happens? Crude and metals are globally traded commodities, the prices are determined by market forces and geopolitical factors, and they keep oscillating.'Recently, the three Gulf oil firms agreed to cut petroleum prices by up to 14 percent per tonne in an extended fuel supply deal with Nairobi, signalling a relief for consumers at the pump. In the new government-to-government (G2G) deal, Kenya is expected to buy a tonne of diesel from the three companies at $78, a drop of 11.3 percent from $88. A tonne of petrol will go for $84 from $90, while that of jet fuel will cost $75 from $111.75. Uganda's caseIn Uganda, in just 15 months, the government has surrendered its petroleum value chain to Middle East companies whose growing influence in the sector is poised to dominate other sectors, in what critics fear is the capture of the economy by powerful individuals using Gulf-based fronts. The recent signing of an agreement with a Dubai-based investor to develop the $4 billion refinery handed the control of Uganda's energy value chain to players from the Gulf, with the award last year of refined petroleum products supplies tender to Vitol Bahrain through a multimillion-dollar partnership with the national oil company. Read: Inside Uganda's $4bn refinery deal with UAE investorIn October 2023, Uganda came sprinting out of the blocks with an amendment to the Petroleum Supply Act that created a monopoly for the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) to source and supply fuel to more than 100 fuel dealers in the Ugandan market. The law's purpose was to ensure security of supply of petroleum products, improve fuel products stocking levels and contribute to the competitiveness of the consumer and retail pump prices. But experts say the law can be manipulated to give an advantage to market players. Regional watchdog Comesa Competition Commission (CCC), which polices anti-trust business practices on the bloc, says Uganda's dalliance with Vitol Bahrain, which owns oil marketing company Vivo Energy in the market, is a recipe for an abusive dominant position.'Vitol operates in the downstream market through Vivo Energy. To ensure that Vivo Energy is not given an unfair advantage over other OMCs [oil marketing companies], there is a need to ensure that it acquires the petroleum products from Unoc on the same terms and conditions as other OMCs,' said Willard Mwemba, the watchdog's CEO. He said that in a situation where Uganda lacks an independent national competition authority, the Vitol-Vivo relationship calls for scrutiny to ensure the local subsidiary does not gain an unfair advantage in Uganda's downstream energy sector. In August 2023, Unoc and Vitol signed a five-year supply deal, leading to an amendment of the law and handing the State-owned entity a monopoly, amid criticism over the secretive deal that was sealed swiftly. Vitol Bahrain was brought in to fill the gap left by Kenyan private oil companies that were mandated to supply all the petroleum products to Uganda OMCs, but these were ousted after President Yoweri Museveni criticised the arrangement as 'exploitation of Kenyan middlemen'. Meanwhile, Kenya has extended the deal with the three Gulf firms to December 2027 for diesel, while the jet fuel and petrol deals will lapse in February and March 2028 respectively. Under the deal which the Kenya adopted in March 2023 Kenya imports fuel from the three Gulf firms on a credit period of 180 days. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
04-04-2025
- Zawya
Kenya extends oil supply agreement with three Gulf companies, Bloomberg News reports
Kenya has renewed a contract to purchase fuel on credit from three state-owned Gulf companies by two years and renegotiated lower margins, Bloomberg News quoted the country's energy regulator as saying. Saudi Aramco, Emirates National Oil and Abu Dhabi National Oil will continue to supply gasoline, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel to the East African nation under a 180-day credit plan, Daniel Kiptoo, the head of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), told Bloomberg News. The contract extension will begin towards the end of 2025 after Kenya completes imports of previously agreed shipments, Kiptoo said. Kenya had previously extended the oil supply deal to the end of 2024. Trade between Kenya and the UAE has more than doubled over the past decade. The UAE is the sixth-largest export market for Kenyan goods and its second biggest source of imports. (Reporting by Ojasvi Gupta in Bengaluru Editing by David Goodman )
