In Kenya, out of 4 meals , 3 are cooked from wood fuel. This means that 68% of Kenyans need to transition to clean cooking, according to Principal Secretary State Department of Energy Alex Wachira.
As the country prepares to commemorate the International Day of Clean Energy in Kitui county on Monday, 26th January 2026, these figures call for concerted efforts to reduce the heavy reliance of fossil fuels in the country.
“As a Ministry, we are focused on two main areas, including increasing access to electricity and transition as many Kenyans as possible from using traditional wood fuels to clean cooking.”
In an exclusive interview with TV47 Digital, PS Wachira has disclosed that President William Ruto and an undisclosed investor will soon launch a 2nd Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal.
He has further stated that the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is working on a 3rd investor who will bring 200 metric tonnes of bulk storage of LPG. These initiatives will make it convenient for Kenyans to use the clean cooking method.
“That means Kenya now can start to access huge vessels that are going to deliver LPG at a lower price. What will that mean? It will mean the current price of LPG is likely to drop once that is done and more so when we move trading of LPG into the OTA system and the G2G system…so what will happen is most likely lowering prices, I don’t want to pre-empt lowering prices.”
Wachira says he is confident that institutions like TVETs and hospitals that have begun installing the 2 tonne LPG cylinders, will achieve a 100% transition by 2 or 3 years.
He further noted that the government is keen on setting the Stand-alone solar systems in Off-Grid stations.
The Kenya Off Grid Solar Access Project, which is funded by the World Bank, covers 14 counties including Garissa, Isiolo, Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Narok, Samburu, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot.
The government is also looking to support 10% of households to transition to eCooking by 2028, through the Kenya National electric Cooking Strategy. The strategy aims to enable electricity to become the cooking fuel of choice for Kenyans by 2050.
“We have already implemented an e-cooking tariff, which will be part of the tariffs, because we are getting into the tariff review period, it shall be announced and that will also help us in terms of driving and helping Kenyans to accept to start using eCooking as a mode of cooking.”
In a bid to achieve this, the government will need to step up efforts to increase electricity access countrywide.
At the moment, 76% of households have access to electricity, but PS Wachira says his State Department has 5 Million households to cover.
“…we still have about 5 million ‘households’ to cover in terms of access to electricity” he added.
Data by the United Nations shows that over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels, which include oil, coal, and gas, for energy.
The UN further states that clean cooking can prevent 3.2 million premature deaths annually which are caused by polluting fuels for cooking.
Despite Kenya’s ambitious plan to transition to clean energy, the world still does not have a clear roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels.
During COP 30, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres noted that global investment in clean energy has reached $2 trillion—$800 billion more than investments in fossil fuels.
