Engineering Works for Kenya’s Renewable Energy Infrastructure Development
Kenya is way ahead of its African peers when it comes to renewable energy with over 73% of installed power capacity coming from green sources. The government has announced it’s on a path to 100% installed power capacity from green sources mainly geothermal, wind, solar and hydro-electric installation sources.
It’s estimated that 69.4% of the Kenyan population have access to electricity in their homes and the country is working towards universal electricity access to connect 100% of the population to the national grid. This calls for improvement in capacity across all the power sources to meet vision 2030 goals.
Of importance to note is the focus of the government to prioritize resource allocation for this initiative with a relentless focus on greener sources.
Key highlights on the renewable power sources that serve the national grid in Kenya include:
Geothermal
Geothermal energy is heat within the earth. The energy from the earth’s core could be in form of steam vents, geysers, hydrothermal vents, and hot springs. These could be tapped to generate electricity.
Geothermal resources in Kenya are predominantly located in the Rift Valley province with the potential of up to 10,000 MW however currently there is about 828.04 MW of installed capacity.
Exploration of geothermal energy in Kenya is done through the Geothermal Development Company (GDC). Established by the government in 2008 to explore, assess, drill, and manage geothermal resources.
Geothermal energy accounts for about 51% of Kenya’s energy sources.
Wind
Kenya is home to the largest wind farm in the continent of Africa. The Lake Turkana wind farm has a capacity of 310 MW. Ngong hills wind energy project was for the longest time the major wind farm in the country with a capacity of 5100 Kilowatts.
Kenya is in a great position to tap on wind power with over 735 of the country experiencing wind speeds of 6 m/s of higher.
The lake Turkana wind farm project was a public-private partnership project, a financing model the government has adopted to fund key infrastructure projects in the country.
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectric power is a form of renewable energy which uses the power of moving water to generate electricity. Power is generated using flowing water to spin turbines connected to a generator.
Hydropower accounts for 17% of Africa’s electricity generation and one-sixth of the world’s electricity.
Kenya has an 826.23 MW installed capacity of hydroelectric power with an estimated 3000 MW Potential which leaves a lot of room for investment in hydroelectric power to increase Kenya’s energy capacity and fulfil its vision 2030 goals of connecting every home to power.
Some of the installed hydroelectric power stations in Kenya include; Sondu Miriu, Gitaru Masinga, Kamburu, Kindaruma, Kiambere, Tana, Turkwel, and Sang’oro.
Solar
Solar energy is a form of energy generated from the sun by converting sunlight into electrical energy. Solar power accounts for 3.1% of global electricity generation.
Kenya has an estimated 15,000 MW solar potential with only 100 MW currently installed. This creates a huge untapped potential for investors willing to launch initiatives as well as for the government through public-private partnerships with an aim of tapping into the huge solar potential as a significant contributor to the national grid.
Conclusion
Kenya is on course to achieve 100% use of renewable energy by 2030. A goal that has seen significant investments in green energy infrastructure and capacity development.
As an alternative funding model to build key renewable energy infrastructure the government of Kenya is scaling public-private partnership models to ensure objectives are met.
This has created a fertile ground for investors looking into investing in infrastructure projects in Kenya, especially in the renewable energy space.
Looking into the space of renewable infrastructure development? Talk to us today.