The Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has said that electricity production increased from 2,351 MW to 3,312 MW while customer connectivity to electricity incareased from 6.78 million to 9.21 million thus increasing connectivity rate by 75 percent both on-grid and off-grid.
The CS said during the same period, the State Department for Petroleum produced, trucked and delivered 415,032 barrels of crude oil to the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited out of which 414,777 barrels were exported.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Principal Secretary, State Department for Energy Mr. Alex Wachira, during the Ministy’s validation workshop Thursday to validate its Draft 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, the Energy Cabinet Secretary said similarly, 319,314 6kg LPG cylinders were procured and distributed to low-income households in Machakos and Kajiado counties on pilot basis as a way of promoting clean cooking.
Chirchir urged the participants to meticulously scrutinize the document to ensure the resultant plan resonated with Kenya’s development aspirations.
Wachira revealed that the Ministry was set to collaborate with other government agencies to increase the digital superhighway by aligning the fiber optics to the pipelines.
In a presentation by Chief Economist at the Ministry Lucy Gaithi highlighted that Ministry replanted trees on 1,652 hectares along the hydro catchment areas including establishing 402 woodlots.
Gaithi pointed out that the Ministry promoted the use of alternative renewable energy technologies such as Solar PV systems, Biogas and energy efficient charcoal kilns in support of clean cooking.
The Strategic Plan being validated is aligned to both national, regional and international development instruments such as the Fourth Medium Term Plan, the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), the Kenya Vision 2030, the East Africa Community (EAC) Vision 2050 and Africa Agenda 2063.
Participants at the meeting included representatives from various State Departments and agencies, private sector players and membership organizations in the energy and petroleum sectors.
The Strategic Plan has four Key Result Areas (KRAs) namely: Energy and Petroleum Resource Development, Promotion and Commercialization; Access to Energy and Petroleum products and services: Environmental Sustainability in the sector; and Enabling Environment for the growth of the sector.
By Viviene Simwa
