Geothermal earns Kenya fourth-top investment spot

Kenya’s zeal in tapping geothermal energy sources helped it attain fourth place and attract Sh234 billion ($2.6 billion) in foreign investment among the top 10 emerging markets for clean energy.

Power Shifts: Emerging Clean Energy Markets, a report covering 2009-2013 that examines clean energy investment and deployment trends, says interest in Kenya was driven by the new energy’s direct effect on lowering the cost of doing business and increasing access to electricity for millions of people as well as by a deliberate effort to lower electricity tariffs.

“Developing countries are prioritising solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources to reduce energy poverty, power economic progress, enhance national security by reducing imports, and protect the environment,” Phyllis Cuttino, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Clean Energy Initiative, said at the launch of the May 15 report.

Kenya’s drive for cheaper energy has seen notable gains made in the Menengai area in Nakuru County where 230MW have been identified ready for tapping.

This has led to the awarding of tenders to three independent power producers to put up generation plants at three strategic locations.

Other geothermal exploration sites — Longonot, Silali and Ol-Karia — are undergoing exploration after feasibility studies indicated viable deposits of gas that could help Kenya reach its 6,000MW target by 2030.

The objective is to enable manufacturers and Kenyans to access affordable power and reduce the cost of living.

The report says that of the 100 emerging countries with acute shortages of power––outside the G-20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development––that attracted a total of Sh5.6 trillion ($62 billion) in clean energy investment, Kenya ranked fourth in the top 10 that received $27.9 billion or about 45 per cent of that total.

“Investment in and deployment of electricity infrastructure is shifting from the industrialised economies of the northern hemisphere to the developing economies, collectively known as the “global south” and from fossil fuels to clean energy,” according to the report.

It observes that in the top 10 emerging nations the wind industry-- n which Kenya has projects in Ngong, Turkana and Kinangop--received the second-greatest investment at Sh700 billion ($7.7 billion), which represents 28 per cent of total clean energy investment in all 10 nations.

Success in up taking billions of shillings by Kenya and other emerging markets for developing clean energy will account for the majority of worldwide power capacity growth over the next 15 years.

Renewable energy is likely to account for 54 per cent of new global capacity. Thailand, Bulgaria and the Ukraine led the list of the top 10 emerging nations receiving clean energy investments.