Bio fuel from Jatropha crops, biogas from municipal waste, wind power and solar cells are all on the agenda in Kenya. Climate change and other factors have caused rainfall to decrease, which again leads to a decline in hydropower that presently account for 60 percent of Kenya’s electricity supply.
“We are making a big bet on renewable energy so that we are always prepared, even when the rains fail,” Prime Minister Raila Odinga says according to Business Today.
A government task force is to identify green energy projects that can generate 2000 MW of electricity. The figure can be compared to the present installed capacity of 1296 MW. 80 percent of Kenyans live in rural areas with scarce access to electricity. For the country to develop, production needs to be raised.
As water levels in dams producing hydropower are at record lows, Kenya’s reserve margin for power production is non-existent and millions of consumers are experiencing rationing. Rainfall is expected to decrease further, partly due to climate change and partly due to illegal logging which brings down the capacity of soils to catch water.
The government, already faced with a budget deficit, urges foreign investments in the proposed green energy projects.
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