Kenya Power, the country’s sole electricity distributor, said it expected capital expenditure to fall 16% in its current financial year as it spends less on maintaining its grid. The company said capital expenditure was likely to fall to $9.9m in its financial year to the end of June 2017, Reuters reported.

Furthermore, the company’s financial performance report for the year ending 30 June 2016, highlighted that 2,341MW of capacity has been installed to date. The company’s Managing Director, Ben Chumo, noted that Kenya Power has signed a total of 35 power purchase agreements (PPAs) for generation projects, informed ESI Africa.

The utility has recorded $118m in profit pre-tax for the year ended 30 June 2016. According to Chumo, the level of profitability has been achieved as a result of the sustained favorable business environment, the utility said in a statement last week. He added that there was increased focus and capital investment in network expansion and refurbishment. There has been 4,771km of new low voltage lines that have been added to the network; 6 substations and associated lines underwent pre-commissioning tests; there was a total of 51 new and upgraded substations; and 4,209km of new high and medium voltage power lines. As a result, Chum concluded that Kenya’s electricity supply has become among the most stable in East Africa and better than the Sub-Saharan Africa average.