Kenya braces for setbacks in clean energy goals as global funds cut

Kenya still has a long way to achieving its ambition of attaining a 100 per cent transition to clean energy by 2030 following the financial constraints.

The country has been gaining support from various groups like the Climate Investment Funds which endorsed a Sh9 trillion ($70m) annual plan last year with an initial allocation of $46.39 million to advance the integration and utilization of renewable energy in the country.

Unfortunately, the recent orders by United States of America’s President Donald Trump to end clean energy-related disbursement could jeopardize the ongoing projects in Africa.

Taking over office after swearing in, Trump signed “immediately pause disbursement of funds” from the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This has raised questions about the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which provides $27 billion for renewable energy development and the Solar for All Program. 

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In Kenya, the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project is one of the initiatives focused on providing renewable energy to the national grid.

The wind power covers 40,000 acres of Marsabit county having a capacity of 310 megawatts making it the largest project in Africa.

To provide reliable energy, it comprises 365 wind turbines each with a capacity of 850 kilowatts with a high voltage substation.

LTWP Executive chairman George Njenga in an exclusive interview with the Standard acknowledged the significant contribution made by the US to the development of energy access in Africa through Development Finance Cooperation and Power Africa Initiatives.

These initiatives have helped Kenya accelerate its renewable energy agenda, while the shifting policy might now lead to a slowdown in climate action plans.

“What is important for our country is to look for alternative funding mechanisms for renewable energy. Kenya is very well endowed with renewable energy resources from geothermal, hydro, solar, and biomass that can be leveraged to produce electricity,” says Njenga urging Kenyans to utilize available renewable resources.

Njenga with over 35 years experience in the energy sector believes that the country can still strategize to achieve its go-green target.

To lower the cost of existing renewable resources, “Scale existing projects because the basic infrastructure is already in place and any increment of megawatts will come at a lower cost,” says Njenga.

He recommends a review of the renewable energy projects funding to include mobilization of local funds or allowing tax waivers for such projects to help the country meet the full green transition.

Wind power usually offers cleaner energy simultaneously contributing to climate change mitigation compared to other sources which pollute the environment.

Situated within the pastoralist community, questions have risen over the wind power in Marsabit disrupting human activities.

Mr.Njenga also a co-developer and Chairman of the Kipeto wind energy project boasts of good relations with the pastoralist community.

“The land is not fenced, we live very well with the pastoralist community. The fenced areas not beyond 80 acres are for a good reason; safety from the power transmission equipment like the transformers and safety of the people and for health reasons,” he explains.

He talks of the Wind of Change program that has enabled the company to integrate with the community by offering education, water, and health.

To him, “sustainability comes first,” aligning the power project to the sustainability development goals in a fight for poverty reduction and providing affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy is always the target.

However, the availability of solar and wind is intermittent depending on the weather which causes uncertainty in energy production.

Mr.Njenga says building battery storage to harness solar and wind energy could be the solution to ensure availability during peak times.

The Ministry of Energy last year directed all new firms seeking to set up wind and solar power plants to include battery energy storage systems to support the grid during peak demand.

To align with the guidelines, the Kenya Electricity Generating company has plans to build battery storage for its maiden Sh.8.8 billion solar power plant at the Seven Forks Dam.

This will mark the second battery energy storage system in the country having a capacity of 3 to 4 megawatts per hour.

Over the past months, the cost of electricity has subsequently gone down, which Mr. Njenga attributes to the impact of exploiting renewable resources.

“We have a more balanced energy grid that makes the system more resilient, more capacity building can help bring down the cost of electricity,” says Njenga.

Kenya Power in its 2024 strategic plan, also acknowledged the high dependence on environment, education, and social wellbeing to continue operations.

“The Company’s efforts are guided by the principle of ‘Smarter for Better’ aiming to revolutionise Kenya’s power grid through technological advancements and data analytics. To achieve its mission, the Company has a role to play in building a connection with the communities in which it operates, by investing in sustainable and impactful social programmes,” managing director Joseph Siror notes.

Comparing Kenya with neighboring countries, we have a sustainable renewable sector ranging from solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and biomass among other resources.

He believes that the interconnectivity between the regional countries through the East African power line will enable more power trade between the countries.

“Some of our neighbors are heavily relying on hydro, in times of drought they face challenges. Kenya has made a well-balanced energy mix that makes the system more resilient and withstand challenges in times of hydrology and other factors,” he points out.

Despite the available resources to supply more energy to the grids, the country faces another challenge of power blackouts.

Njenga opines, “The population has continued to grow and the electricity demand has increased, which means we have to continue to invest in the transmission and distribution of energy”.

Though all hope is not lost, the recently concluded Mission 300 energy summit in Tanzania has now offered a glimmer of hope to Africans amidst the funding crisis.

The summit which held a collective goal of expanding access to reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030 has already received funding support.

Denmark, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France have unveiled contributions to the World Bank-supported sustainable energy fund for Africa.

The L Turkana wind power is already aligning with the Mission 300 goals as it strives to strengthen the grids to minimize power losses.