EPRA tightens solar export rules: Inside Kenya’s net-metering system

The issue has gained fresh attention after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) amended Kenya Power’s electricity tariff schedule through a Gazette Notice published on September 18, 2026.

The amendment formally defines unauthorised electricity exported into the Kenya Power network as “dumping” and sets out how approved net-metering exports are treated.

The notice was made effective from July 1, 2025, bringing the tariff schedule in line with the existing net-metering framework.

Can your home sell excess solar to Kenya Power?

Not in the conventional sense of selling electricity for cash.

Kenya’s Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations, 2024 allow a consumer generating renewable electricity for their own use to export surplus electricity to the grid.

A bi-directional meter records electricity flowing both ways.

For every unit of electricity exported, the consumer receives a credit equivalent to 50 per cent of the exported energy.

Those credits are then used to offset electricity supplied by the distribution licensee during subsequent billing periods.

Put simply, exporting 100 kWh does not mean Kenya Power pays you for 100 units.

The account receives a credit equivalent to 50 kWh.

This makes the arrangement different from a feed-in tariff where an electricity producer is paid a specified amount for every unit sold.

How net metering works

Imagine a house with rooftop solar that produces more electricity during the day than the family is consuming.

The excess can flow into the Kenya Power network instead of being wasted, provided the system has been approved for net metering.

Later, when the home's solar generation falls - such as at night - electricity can be drawn from the grid.

The bi-directional meter records both imports and exports, allowing Kenya Power to calculate the energy balance and apply the appropriate credits.

Unused credits can be carried into subsequent billing periods, but the regulations provide that credits remaining at the end of the licensee’s financial year are forfeited.

Which homes qualify?

The regulations do not allow households to install an unlimited solar system and automatically export whatever it produces.

For domestic consumers, the maximum net-metered generation capacity is 4 kW for single-phase connections and 10 kW for three-phase connections.

Commercial and industrial customers have a much higher ceiling.

This is up to 1 MW, although their installation is also capped by the maximum load demand recorded during the preceding 12 months, or the contracted load where the relevant demand is unavailable.

The wider net-metering programme has an initial national aggregate capacity of 100 MW, after which EPRA is required to review the threshold.

You cannot simply connect solar and start exporting

A consumer cannot legally operate a net-metering system without a net-metering agreement with the electricity licensee.

The customer applies to the licensee, which evaluates the proposed installation and its effect on the electricity network.

For systems above 10 kW, the application must include a feasibility study prepared by an engineer.

Once approved, the customer enters into a net-metering agreement, pays the applicable approved fees and has six months to install and commission the required meter.

The agreement is valid for a renewable five-year term.

The equipment must also meet applicable safety, technical and grid-code requirements.

So, what is “dumping”?

The new EPRA tariff amendment draws a line between approved export and unauthorised backfeeding.

Power injected into the Kenya Power network without the required approval or a valid net-metering arrangement can be treated as dumping.

Under the amended schedule, electricity classified as dumped is charged at the applicable base tariff, with further action possible where the unauthorised injection causes injury or damage to equipment.

That means a solar owner should not assume that an inverter automatically makes it legal to send surplus electricity into the grid.

Why does the grid care about rooftop solar?

Kenya's solar sector has grown significantly.

EPRA reported 540.9 MW of installed solar capacity by December 2025, consisting of 210.3 MW connected to the grid, 326.7 MW of captive solar and 3.9 MW of off-grid capacity.

Solar accounted for 14.74 per cent of the country's total installed electricity capacity at the time.

But electricity networks have technical limits.

Uncontrolled power flowing back into a distribution system can affect voltage, protection systems, equipment and network stability.

That is why the net-metering regulations require technical assessment, appropriate metering and safety controls rather than allowing unrestricted household generation to connect directly to the grid.

Is solar still worth installing?

The economics generally favour self-consumption first because electricity used directly in the home offsets the need to buy that unit from the grid, whereas an exported unit earns only a 50 per cent energy credit under the net-metering framework.

That makes the size of the solar installation important.

A system designed around a home's daytime electricity demand can use more of its generation on site and export less surplus.

For households considering solar, the central question is therefore no longer simply how many panels can fit on the roof.

It is how much electricity the home consumes, when it consumes it, how much surplus is likely to be generated, and whether that surplus will be stored, used later or legally exported to the Kenya Power grid.