The bid of renewable energy investors to assume control of energy generation in Kenya has been rejected owing to cost concerns.
This was made known by the renewable Energy director Benson Mwaniki, who highlighted Kenya’s inability to completely pivot to solar energy. As a result, such ideas have been pushed to the 2040s.
The director also noted that the Geothermal Development Company (GDC), which has mapped important geothermal resources to draw in private investors, has spearheaded Kenya’s efforts to de-risk renewable projects.
“Because of the requests, that’s why we are planning for them, so that they don’t come at the same time. So we have spread the interests up to around 2041 going to 2043,” said Mwaniki.
The Star newspaper reported that though Mwaniki failed to offer exact figures about the number of businesses showing interest in Kenya’s renewable energy projects, the director warned that the country will face much higher power bills as a result of producing more electricity than it uses.
He indicated that, in line with the short, medium, and long periods, Kenya is exploring schemes that can be supported and at which year, depending on demand projections.
“If we do a surplus of a generation, then the tariff will go up. The cost of electricity will go up. So we have to balance between what we are taking in and what we are giving out.
Yes, we have also talked about the issue of storage. Now, that one will also come in to ensure that we don’t waste cheap energy like geothermal. We store it and use it during the peak hours,” Mwaniki stated.
The East African economic powerhouse has made improvements to clean energy, with renewable energy sources accounting for 2,859.4 MW of total installed capacity as of June 2024, or 80.04%.
This includes 2,427.1 MW of linked renewable energy capacity and 427.7 MW of captive renewable energy.
“We look at the forecasting; we talked about forecasting for 2025 and 2026, so what are the potential candidates to fit in to ensure that we have adequate power in that year? So that’s why we cannot accept one source that is beyond what we can accommodate,” the director explained.
