Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Dian Kiptoba, has outlined the commitment of energy regulators in ensuring a seamless supply of energy in the East African community.
Speaking at an annual general assembly for the East African Republic Regulators Association, which is an association of regulators in the electricity, renewable energy and downstream and upstream petroleum sectors in the region, Kiptoba said there has been a lot of collaboration and exchange of ideas in relation to energy trade.
He said the association is looking at putting in place the right regulatory frameworks and ensuring there is standardization.
“We are here to deliberate on issues with respect to the association and collaboration within the East African region with respect to energy and petroleum,” he said.
The DG said there are a lot of collaborations and partnerships at the bilateral level, between country to country but also within the association, to foster information sharing and knowledge sharing since it’s the first basis for collaboration.
He noted that there have been a lot of synergies, particularly with electricity trade, in terms of the development of oil and gas resources, local content and exchange of technical expertise.
“Today we are in a space where some countries have a power surplus, others have a power deficit, and through the knowledge and information sharing among the regulators, we have been able to ensure that information is shared where there are technical bottlenecks,” added Kiptomba.
He said in terms of construction of transmission lines they have been able to identify which lines need to get built, for them to know which power plants are coming on the stream so that they can move the area which has a power surplus to the one with a deficit.
He noted that the country is working to be an oil producer in the next coming years.
However, he stated that Kenya is currently in a deficit as they are importing from neighboring Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania but also strong on geothermal and hydro with a lot of wind and solar resources.
“What we are looking at is to harmonize regulatory frameworks and standards so that the real spirit of the East Africa community really happens, so that we can leverage on the different strengths that the association and the region has,” he added.
Kiptoba said the government is looking at interventions to ensure that security of supply is sustained by engaging with the suppliers in the Middle East.
The DG said there has been a lot of speculation on nuclear energy yet nuclear is safe thus calling for the need for public advocacy and education.
He gave a case study on other countries that have adopted nuclear energy can be used as an example, countries like Germany, France, South Africa, among others have adopted nuclear energy which is important because once the economy grows the country will have exhausted all renewable energy capacity.
He said there has been rigidity in the two sites identified in Kenya that are Kilifi and Kwale counties noting that there is an issue of getting the people to accept that the project is a good one.
He added that the country should not wait to exhaust hydro since there will not be enough time to develop other energy sources yet there will be industries coming in.
By Chari Suche
