From May 2025 through April 2026, Kenya consumed about 15.2 TWh of electricity, including net imports. Domestic low-carbon generation supplied about 83% of that total, fossil generation accounted for roughly 7%, and net imports provided the remaining 10%; the imports’ electricity sources are not specified. Geothermal led with 6.4 TWh, supplying more than two-fifths of consumption, followed by hydropower at 3.5 TWh and wind at 1.9 TWh. Despite this strong clean-electricity foundation, consumption was just 265 kWh per person—about 7% of the global average of 3,794 kWh per person. Such limited electricity availability can constrain industrial development, healthcare, education, and household access to electrical appliances, while leaving little room for growing demand from electrification and digital services.

Is Electricity Growing in Kenya?

Electricity consumption in Kenya is growing, although the pace remains modest relative to these needs. The latest 2026 figure of 265 kWh per person exceeds the previous record of 259 kWh in 2025 by roughly 2%. Low-carbon electricity generation also reached a new high of 219 kWh per person, increasing by 6 kWh from its previous record of 213 kWh in 2025. Both records are encouraging, particularly because clean generation is expanding alongside consumption. However, much faster sustained growth would help Kenya narrow its substantial electricity gap with the global average.

Suggestions

Kenya can build on its established geothermal and hydropower resources while expanding wind, which already supplies a substantial amount of electricity. It should also accelerate solar deployment and consider developing nuclear electricity to support a larger, diversified low-carbon supply. Useful examples include South Africa, which generates about 20 TWh from solar and 12 TWh from nuclear, and India, with approximately 205 TWh of solar, 125 TWh of wind, and 54 TWh of nuclear generation. These examples offer relevant opportunities to study clean-electricity development in emerging economies. Brazil’s roughly 110 TWh of wind generation provides another useful reference for wind expansion. Kenya could adapt lessons in procurement, workforce development, grid investment, and long-term planning to local conditions, supporting electricity growth while limiting fossil-fuel air pollution and climate impacts.

History

Kenya’s low-carbon electricity history shows fluctuating hydropower output alongside important advances in geothermal and wind. Hydropower declined by a combined 1.9 TWh in 1999–2000 before recovering 1.8 TWh in 2001–2002. Further declines in 2008–2009 were followed by gains of 1.3 TWh in 2010 and 0.8 TWh in 2012. Geothermal delivered a major breakthrough in 2014, adding 2.1 TWh despite a hydropower decline, then grew by another 0.6 TWh in 2017. During 2018–2022, hydropower continued to fluctuate, while wind added 1.3 TWh in 2019 and 0.7 TWh in 2021—valuable progress in diversifying clean supply. More recently, geothermal increased by 0.5 TWh in 2023, and hydropower added 0.9 TWh in 2024, strengthening the foundation for further low-carbon electricity growth.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (May 2025 – Apr 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.