The situation was foreseeable: Kenya’s electricity supply depends heavily on a few large-scale hydroelectric schemes that generate more than half of the country’s electricity needs. In times of climate change, with droughts becoming more frequent, this dependency proves to be dangerous and expensive. Power rationing immediately leads to economic losses for those who have been cut off. The generation of electricity from leased emergency power plants run on fossil fuels is both expensive and environmentally unsustainable.
A recent study, undertaken by AFREPREN/FWD and supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, argues that this dangerous dependency can be addressed by re-focusing Kenya’s energy strategy towards a more diversified energy mix. Besides large-scale hydropower, it should include a strong element of decentralized renewable energy options, such as geothermal, biomass co-generation, wind power, and small-scale hydropower. In order to achieve this, innovative power purchasing agreements and finance options are required.
The study was launched during an expert roundtable with the media, on 27th August 2009 in Nairobi. Among others, two government officials explained the background of the current power crisis and showed what the Government of Kenya is already doing to address the situation, with several new and diversified electricity generation facilities currently being established:
Eng. Isaac N. Kiva
(Senior Principal Superintending Engineer, Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy)
Government of Kenya Responses to the Energy Crisis (pdf, 43 kB)
Joel K. Imitira
(Senior Manager, Economic Regulation, Energy Regulatory Commission)
Power Situation in Kenya: Reforms to Guarantee Security of Supply (pdf, 367 kB)
The launch of the study and the expert roundtable received extensive media coverage, see
• Erratic power supply costs Kenyan economy billions of shillings (Business Daily, 28.8.2009)
• Kenyan sugar firms urged to think power (Capital FM, 27.8.2009)