Kenya Power to install 45 electric vehicle chargers in six counties

Kenya Power announced on Monday that it will install some 45 electric vehicle (EV) chargers across six counties in the next year as part of the utility’s long-term plan to boost Kenya’s EV uptake.

Kenya Power’s Managing Director, Joseph Siror, said the chargers will be installed in Nairobi, Nyeri, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Mombasa and Taita-Teveta.

Of the 45, six will be installed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to add to the three chargers the company previously put up in Nairobi.

“We are working with the private sector players to identify the energy and infrastructure needs within the e-mobility space to inform the deployment of the right strategies that will accelerate EV adoption in Kenya,” Dr Siror told delegates at this year’s E-mobility Conference and Expo that Kenya Power has organised with the German development agency GIZ and the Electric Mobility Association of Kenya (EMAK).

Dr Siror’s announcement comes as new data shows an increase in the number of EVs registered in Kenya.

EMAK on Monday said there are approximately 9,047 EVs registered in the country currently, with 2,694 and 5,294 registered in 2023 and 2024 alone, respectively.

This pushes the fraction of EVs to Kenya’s total registered vehicles to 0.2 per cent.

Kenya’s e-mobility growth has been spurred by factors like the government’s introduction of an e-mobility tariff in the current electricity tariff control period, as well as tax incentives.

But EVs’ upfront costs remain relatively high compared to the used internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle imports common in Kenya, with EV companies citing battery costs as a major contributor to the high costs.

Siror said on Monday that in addition to rolling out more public charging stations countrywide, Kenya Power is exploring setting up local battery assembly plants in a bid to bring down EV costs further.