Kenya will delay by a decade plans to build its first-ever nuclear power plant, a $5 billion facility, to ensure a match between power supply and demand, according to the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency.
The initial 1,000-megawatt plant is now projected to be connected to the grid in 2036, said Erick Ohaga, the state-owned agency's director of nuclear energy infrastructure development. An earlier plan was to have the plant supply home and industries by 2026.
“Time-lines have changed because power supply needs to follow demand,” Ohaga said by phone on Wednesday.
Kenya is enhancing its capacity by training nuclear energy professionals, and carrying out further analysis on the most suitable sites for the plant, he said. Currently, Tana River county is the most preferred area, according to the project's impact study report.
Kenya's energy demand is forecast to grow at an average of 5.28% in the next two decades, according to the Ministry of Energy. Electricity sales in East Africa's biggest economy were 8,571 gigawatt-hours in the year ended June 2021, compared with 5,816 GWh 10 years earlier, according to Kenya Power data, translating to annual growth rate of 3.95% over the decade.
Read more: Kenya on Course for $5 Billion Nuclear Plant to Power Industry
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