Kenya defines net-metering rules for solar

Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has released a draft regulation to support the introduction of a net-metering regime for PV installations.

The new rules will apply to PV systems up to 1 MW in size. It will help the country to initially deploy around 100 MW of solar capacity, according to EPRA.

The owners of the solar arrays will need to pay grid-interconnection fees and cover the costs of either unidirectional or bidirectional meter installations. The approvals to operate under net metering will be granted within 60 days from the date of application, said EPRA.

According to the authorities, Kenya currently has around 100 MW of installed distributed generation PV capacity. Their owners are now resorting to storage or curtailment to manage excess power. Most of these installations were deployed between 2018 and 2019, when fiscal incentives were in place in the country and solar module prices were at their lowest levels, said EPRA.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Kenya had 147 MW of installed PV capacity by the end of 2021. New PV capacity additions reached 41 MW in 2021, while in the preceding three years, just 1 MW of solar power was deployed.