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CORPORATE NEWS
Middle class
Eng. Kanini says that the first exercise was successful
as it led not only to major savings of power for the firm
and its clients but also had a big impact on mitigating
climate change.
A lot of awareness was created and most of our
clients are now ‘energy-conscious’, she told WattsUp
Magazine.
She added, “We targeted the middle class and the
reception was very positive. This led to 40 MW savings
on peak demand. On mitigating climate change, there
was a reduction of 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
released to the atmosphere.”
Energy saving
Eng. Kanini notes that the company experienced a few
challenges during the first initiative as their staff had
to juggle between their normal work and distribution
of the energy saving bulbs, with some meter reading
tasks being put on hold.
“We also had a few integrity issues during the
distribution but we dealt with it sternly,” she said.
Energy production is very
expensive; saving energy
is cheaper than generating
more
-Margaret Kanini, the Chief
Engineer, Kenya Power
For the second phase, KPLC is targeting low-income
class and the clients in the rural areas.
Clean development
Kenya Power has engaged the National Environment
Management Authority (NEMA) to provide guidelines
on how to dispose of the collected incandescent bulbs.
Currently, the bulbs are in KPLC stores.
On the basis of the initiative, KPLC has registered for
the Clean Development Mechanism. “We registered in
December 2012 and are now in the implementation
stage, awaiting verification. The UN accepted our
project as having an impact on mitigating climate
change,” says Margaret.
Stima loans
A consumer using efficient bulbs can save 80 per
cent of their lighting bills. The project, Scaling up
Energy Access, has also been witnessed in two other
components. These are Stima Loans - to clients who
cannot afford to pay for connection fee upfront, and
Transformer Densification.
Transformer densification is maximization of
transformers by connecting all potential customers
and bringing more transformers along the transmission
lines
Display of Bulbs
WATTS UP MAGAZINE APR - MAY 2017
33