Wind turbines at the Ngong power station: Rising demand for energy in
Kenya has spurred the government to look look for alternative sources
like wind, geothermal and solar. The African Development Bank has given
Kenya a $124 million loan to develop the Menengai geothermal power
plant. File
About ten kilometres north of the Kenya’s Rift
Valley town of Nakuru lies a massive shield volcano with one of the
biggest calderas in the world. Standing at about 7,474 feet above sea
level with a sheer cliff, locals describe it as an easy suicide zone.
Perhaps, this is how the crater earned its name ‘Menengai’ – Maasai dialect for ‘Corpse’.
Now, with funding from the Climate Investment
Funds channeled through the African Development Bank (AfDB), the
government of Kenya is taking advantage of this volcanic opening to
generate electricity using hot steam from the earth’s crust to run
turbines.
“This is a move in a positive direction because with shifting climatic conditions we need more sources of energy that are not affected by the prevailing climatic conditions,” said John Kioli, the chief executive officer of the Green Africa Foundation , a local nongovernmental organisation that champions a greener future.
In recent years, Kenya – which gets much of its energy from hydro-electric power - has faced power rationing, largely because of reduced water levels at hydroelectric generating plants.
The worst experience was in 2006, when the national grid ran short of 90 megawatts after rains were delayed.
The shortages affected major businesses, as well as schools, hospitals, military camps and homes.
According to estimates by the Geothermal
Development Company – formed by the government to fast-track geothermal
power generation in Kenya, - the Menengai power plant could help shore
up such shortages.
It is expected to inject 400 megawatts of electricity into the national grid by 2017, which would boost current production by close to a third. So far, the highest recorded peak power consumption in Kenya was 1,347 megawatts, according to Migwi Theuri, a spokesperson for Kenya Power, which supplies electricity in the country.
That is close to the company’s peak generating capacity of 1,570 megawatts a day, and leaves too little excess capacity to support increases in industrial use.
“Having some little surplus does not mean that we are safe. The truth is that we are operating with suppressed demand because we do not have enough power to encourage more power users to invest in the country,” Theuri said.
If 400 megawatts were injected into the national grid, Theuri said, it would immediately attract more investment by companies that need energy to run their factories.
An investor who needs 50 megawatts a day cannot invest before he or she is assured of a constant surplus in the system of at least that much energy – or face machinery sitting idle when energy generation falls below what is needed, he said.
Project
More power in the grid is also important because
with an ongoing government-driven rural electrification programme,
domestic demand for electricity is on the rise.
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