Kenya Power has announced plans to set up electric car charging points across the country in a bid to tap into the emerging electric vehicles market.

Kenya Power said that it had developed plans to build a network of public electric vehicle charging points. It also revealed that it was engaging the government in a bid to have taxes on electric cars and equipment for building charging points slashed as the government accelerates plans to have at least five percent of registered cars being non-petrol.

“We are also planning to set up charging facilities across the country, and will make use of our existing workshops to provide after-sale services such as mechanical support,” Kenya Power acting chief executive officer Rosemary Oduor. “As Kenya’s only electricity off-taker, and with our goal being to become the energy solutions provider of choice, the opportunity presented by electric motorisation is substantive enough to be a dial-mover for the business.”

The uptake of electric cars in Kenya has been slow due to lack of adequate and reliable charging points. According to Ms. Oduor, the electric car charging points will be set up along major highways, parking lots and malls.

The move by Kenya Power comes over one year after the power generator KenGen announced that it would be investing in electric electric car charging points to create a new revenue stream.

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“The case to have electric vehicles is there and KenGen is ready to support that with renewable energy. On innovation, we are exploring to participate in manufacturing and we have also rolled out charging infrastructure with a pilot within our premises,” Kengen’s Strategy and Innovation Director David Muthike said in August 2020. Currently, Kenya has about two million vehicles of which 98 percent use petrol or diesel.