KenGen Managing Director Rebecca Miano during a past annual general meeting in Nairobi. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA Power generator KenGen is investing in electric car charging system as it eyes new revenue streams.
KenGen Strategy and Innovation Director David Muthike said Monday through a webinar that the firm is positioning itself to the possibilities of rollout of electric public service vehicles as Kenya eyes reduced reliance on diesel.
“The case to have electric vehicles is there and KenGen is ready to support that with renewable energy,” said Mr Muthike in the webinar convened by Energy Society Kenya.
“On innovation, we are exploring to participate in manufacturing and we have also rolled out charging infrastructure with a pilot within our premises.”
Mr Muthike did not however give details on the location of the pilot vehicle charging infrastructure.
Scaling up the project will see KenGen generate revenue from vehicle owners who will require to charge their vehicles but this is heavily dependent on the technology picking up locally.
The use of electric vehicles has been gaining momentum in western countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and US as the world turns attention to cutting down on carbon emission.
However, the high price, insufficient charging infrastructure and energy storing batteries have been cited as the main challenges for adoption and growth of the electric vehicle industry in African countries such as Kenya.
Kenya has about two million vehicles and about 98 percent use petrol or diesel.
Currently Nopia Ride, a cab-hailing app in the country, runs electric cars.
