Kenya must tap green energy to drive growth

Geothermal power production at Ol Karia in Naivasha. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By TINA NDUTA

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Summary

• Kenya is among top countries for renewable energy in Africa. It is the largest renewable energy investor on the continent after South Africa.
• With an estimated 10,000 MW of geothermal, Kenya is home to Africa’s largest wind power project Lake Turkana Wind Power Project.
• Investing in renewable and environmental conservation is not just good for the environment but is also good business practice.

Early this year, Kenyans woke up to the stark reality of decreasing water levels in dams that supply their most essential utilities— water and electricity.

Hard-hit is Ndakaini dam that supplies about 84 per cent of Nairobi water, causing a dire shortage of the commodity in Nairobi.

The weather conditions affected water levels in all Seven Fork Hydro stations. Water levels for some hydro dam water have dropped by as much as 45 per cent.

In the Horn of Africa, 20 million people face the risk of starvation due to prolonged drought. Three million out of those that are faced with this menace are in Kenya. In 2015 it was reported that Zambia faced a crisis as the biggest man – made reservoir was drying up.

Lake Kariba dam is world’s largest man- made reservoir by volumes and it supplies about 1,830 megawatts of power to Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In East Africa, farmers have seen a decline in coffee and tea yields due to prolonged dry spells. Recently, East Africa countries have moved to take stringent measures to control fishing in shared water in Lake Victoria due declining fish stocks in the lake.

Climate has also hit fishing in Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s deepest and oldest Lake.

Researchers have found sustained warming throughout the decades has hindered a vital mixing process (common to all lakes around the world) that helps spread nutrients and oxygen through the water—an alarming insight that reveals why there is a declining marine population in Lake Tanganyika.

It is now official that 2016 was the hottest year on record. The effects of climate have without a doubt manifested across the world and in a significant way. From extreme weather like floods and typhoons, to melting ice glaciers and wild fires.

Researchers have also come up with a report that rising temperature is a threat to wheat, one of the world’s most vital crops.

Climate change will also hurt us via water. A World Bank report has found that perhaps the most severe impact to climate change could be effects on water supplies.

The reports suggest also that lack of water could have a knock back effect to economic growth in some parts of the world by as much as six per cent by the year 2050.

No one in the world has done less to cause climate change than sub – Saharan Africa. Yet the region is experiencing some of the most severe effects of climate change. The world’s poorest are almost most vulnerable to climate change.

When world leaders converged on Paris for the climate convention I in December 2015 that produced the historic COP21 Accord, a consensus was reached to take measures to hold the rise of global temperatures to below be 2º celsius by the end of the century. From a wide range of aspects, energy is at the very centre of it.

Africa has the least electricity proliferation in the world; in fact close to 600 million people in the continent do not have access to electricity.

Africa also has the highest renewable energy reserves in the world. According to International Energy Agency (EIA) 18 out of 35 countries with the highest renewable energy reserves in the world are in Africa.

Africa seeks to achieve Universal Electrification by 2030 in an investment that is estimated to cost $450 billion to generate 240 gigawatts of electricity to connect some two thirds of its population that are currently in the dark.

This is Africa’s moment to seize leadership in climate change action, including fully and broadly embracing renewable energy and good environmental practices to shift the continent to a low carbon future.

Investing in renewable and environmental conservation is not just good for the environment but is also good business practice that holds huge potential for economic development and jobs creation.

Kenya is among top countries for renewable energy in Africa. It is the largest renewable energy investor on the continent after South Africa.

With an estimated 10,000 MW of geothermal, it is home to Africa’s largest wind power project Lake Turkana Wind Power Project. The country has five large hydro dams and 260 mini hydro dams.

Kenya also has a good strategy for biofuels energy development. In 2015 George Farm Biojule Project (2 MW) in Naivasha became the first Biofuel energy project to inject electricity to the grid.

Finally the country is also working on a development plan to build the first nuclear power plant by 2025.

Kenya also has a favourable and coherent energy policy. In 2016 the country was ranked among the fastest growing renewable energy markets in the world by Ernest & Young Renewable Energy Countries Investment Attractiveness Index (RECAI) for 2016.

Kenya ahead of COP21 pledged to cut carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and achieve a 10 per cent forestry covers.