Kenya is moving to shore up the hardware behind its off-grid electrification push, with a new procurement tender kickstarting the next phase of a World Bank-backed program that has already committed billions of shillings to solar expansion in underserved counties.
- •The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has invited bids for the supply of single-phase prepaid meters and miniature circuit breakers, a contract that will be financed under the KSh 19.37 billion Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP).
- •The tender, issued under international competitive bidding rules, sets a 16 June deadline and marks a shift from project rollout to systems integration, ensuring newly electrified areas can connect, bill, and manage power consumption.
- •The procurement sits downstream of a flurry of contracts signed earlier this year under KOSAP, which is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Energy, Kenya Power, and the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC).
In February, the government oversaw the award of 20 contracts worth about KSh 10 billion to private contractors for the construction of 113 solar-powered mini-grids and the installation of standalone systems across public facilities.
Those projects target 14 counties largely beyond the reach of the national grid, including Turkana, Garissa, and Lamu, where sparse populations and challenging terrain have long made traditional grid extension uneconomical. The installations are designed to supply electricity to hundreds of schools, health centers, and administrative offices, alongside broader community access through mini-grid networks.
The latest tender adds a critical commercial layer to that infrastructure, as prepaid meters (now standard in Kenya’s electricity market) allow utilities to manage revenue collection more efficiently while giving consumers control over usage. Circuit breakers are essential for network safety and load management, particularly in decentralized systems where fluctuations can be harder to regulate.
KOSAP has also supported the distribution of more than 170,000 standalone solar home systems, reaching close to a million people, alongside clean cooking initiatives and solar-powered water pumping projects. These efforts are aimed at closing the access gap in regions where the national grid remains years away.
Kenya’s electricity access rate has risen sharply over the past decade to 75% but the final stretch of connecting remote and low-income populations has proven the most complex. Years of delayed Treasury reimbursements for grid expansion have left Kenya Power carrying roughly KSh 30 billion in receivables tied to rural electrification, with some mini-grids already impaired by underfunded maintenance and failed components.
The tender sets a financial threshold for participation, requiring bidders to post a minimum bid security of KSh 5.3 million (about $40,400) as part of the submission process.
