Kenya is intensifying its clean energy deployment strategy to deliver reliable power to both industrial facilities and residential households, according to Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Opiyo Wandayi. Speaking during World Clean Energy Day commemorations in Kitui County, Wandayi framed the initiative as essential not only for environmental sustainability but as a foundation for public health improvement, economic opportunity, and social equity across generations.
"At the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, we recognize that the energy transition goes beyond infrastructure and megawatts," Wandayi stated. The Cabinet Secretary called for coordinated global action toward a just, inclusive energy transition that delivers tangible benefits for communities and ecosystems alike.
The country's power sector provides a strong foundation for expansion. Kenya's installed electricity generation capacity currently stands at 3,243 megawatts, comfortably exceeding peak demand of 2,444.4 megawatts. Critically, 80 percent of this installed capacity and 93 percent of consumed electricity originate from renewable sources. The government continues integrating wind and solar generation with geothermal and hydropower resources to ensure grid reliability and stability.
Electricity access has reached approximately 75 percent nationwide, yet the Cabinet Secretary highlighted a persistent gap in clean cooking solutions. Only 34.4 percent of Kenyan households currently have access to clean cooking technologies, a shortfall with severe public health consequences. An estimated 26,000 Kenyans die each year from household air pollution attributable to traditional cooking fuels such as charcoal and firewood.
Geothermal power serves as the anchor resource, comprising 26 percent of installed capacity, followed by hydropower at 24 percent, wind at 12 percent, and solar at 12.4 percent. Beyond domestic generation, Kenya maintains interconnected power grid links with Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, facilitating regional electricity trade that reduces emissions, strengthens energy security, and drives economic growth and innovation across East Africa.
Clean cooking remains a declared national priority. To address the health, environmental, and socio-economic impacts of traditional energy use, the government is promoting a diversified portfolio of solutions including Liquefied Petroleum Gas, electric cooking, bioethanol, biogas, briquettes and pellets, and improved biomass cookstoves. The strategy emphasizes affordability, accessibility, and sustainability to accelerate adoption across income levels.
In collaboration with international partners including the European Union, GIZ, UNDP, and UK PACT, multiple counties are developing County Energy Plans designed to expand clean and sustainable energy access while strengthening partnerships across government, private sector, civil society, and local communities. The overarching objective is ensuring that clean energy becomes available, affordable, and accessible to every Kenyan household, driving economic growth, advancing equity, and strengthening climate resilience.