NAIROBI, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) projected on Friday that the uptake of electric vehicles would increase the country's electricity consumption by 15.465 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the next three years.

       EPRA Director General Daniel Kiptoo said that the consumption of electricity by electric vehicles would annually increase by 5.155 GWh, raising the total national demand from the current 13,289 GWh.

       EPRA noted that by 2025, it is expected that five percent of the total vehicles registered in the country will be electric as the government pushes to decarbonize the transport sector.

       "We have contributed to the efforts put forth by many stakeholders to develop guidelines that form a framework for electric charging and battery-swapping infrastructure," Kiptoo said in the capital Nairobi during a meeting in which EPRA released a report on the sector's performance in 2023.

       He said that the growing uptake of e-mobility is expected to increase the country's energy demand, particularly during off-peak periods, such as at night when the vehicle batteries are being charged.

       According to EPRA, as of June 2023, there were 2,079 electric vehicles in Kenya, the majority of which (1,500) were motorcycles, followed by three-wheelers at 176.

       Currently, there are about five million vehicles in Kenya, with the majority using fossil fuels.

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       In readiness for increased power consumption, Kenya is working to enhance electricity supply through increased generation and importation.

       Kenya has constructed a 400 kV interconnector line from Tanzania to facilitate power importation from its neighbor.

       Furthermore, Kenya's electricity imports from Ethiopia are expected to rise by 200 MW over the next three years, increasing the import capacity from Ethiopia to 400 MW, according to EPRA.