Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has secured KSh10.5 billion in funding for a battery energy storage system to store excess wind and solar power.
The Global Climate Fund will provide $45 million (KSh5.84 billion) and the World Bank’s International Development Agency will disburse 32.08 million euros (KSh4.65 billion), according to KenGen’s latest annual report.
The battery storage will have a capacity of 100 megawatt-hours and is intended to supply Kenya Power during evening peak demand, reducing reliance on costly thermal power and imports from Ethiopia and Uganda.
The project, to be located in Olkaria, Kipevu, Embakasi and Muhoroni, is currently at the design and tendering stage, with a loan maturing in 2048 and an undisclosed interest rate.
KenGen currently has no battery energy storage system, limiting Kenya Power’s ability to tap wind and solar plants during peak hours; the company’s wind plant in Ngong Hills supplied 48 million kilowatt-hours in the year ended June 2025.
KenGen is also planning its first solar plant of 42.5 megawatts at the Seven Forks Cascade and aims to increase generation by 5,540 megawatts and install 500 megawatt-hours of battery storage in the next few years.
In the year ended June 2026, KenGen supplied 8.97 billion kilowatt-hours to Kenya Power, representing 57.2 per cent of total electricity, and its net profit fell slightly to KSh10.35 billion from KSh10.48 billion the previous year.
KenGen said the financing for the “BESS project Gogo Redevelopment & Seven Forks Solar” was a major highlight of the year ended June 2026.
