KENYA WANTS NEW ENERGY

Kenya, with a population of 37 million, is planning to triple its energy capacity and get 85% of the new generation from its abundant geothermal resources. It is a classic example of a nation not blessed with the oil curse and, therefore, forced to develop other natural resources.

Blessed with magnificent beauty and the abundance of nature, Kenya has turned tourism into a major revenue stream. Despoiling its air and rivers with drilling or mining would be counterproductive. So it looked for and has found a source of sustainable energy.

From the article: “Beneath the hooves of the giraffes and zebras populating the idyllic sceneries around Lake Naivasha lies the "white gold" that could solve Kenya's energy problem… the KenGen plants in the Naivasha area are among the jewels of Kenya's technical know-how.”

Kenya’s energy demand is growing 8% a year and its hydroelectric capacity is falling off as a result of drought and deforestation.

At Kenya’s existing geothermal facilities, the hot water and steam are piped to the surface where the steam is separated and used to drive turbines and the water is recycled. New technology incorporated by the Kenyans makes the entire process a closed cycle by capturing and recycling the steam as well.

Biggest obstacle: Initial investment. $3 million/new megawatt. (Estimate of new coal for Kenya: ~$2 million/megawatt.

Edge: International financial institutions know New Energy investments are better long-term bets in a world with progressively rising emissions constraints. Kenya has obtained donations and preferential loans from the French Development Agency (AFP), the World Bank and German cooperation.

Jean-Pierre Marcelli, East Africa head, French Development Agency: "We're at a real turning point in Kenya…It's a choice between a clean energy policy with low carbon emissions and the path of fossil energy, which may be more simple and require less investments but is infinitely more polluting…"

NewEnergyNews loves those smart French.

click to enlarge

See also: Development of geothermal projects in protected areas in Kenya

Kenya energy goes green to meet electricity boom
Francois Ausseill, July 27, 2008 (ASFP via Yahoo News)

WHO
Kenya (President Mwai Kibaki)

WHAT
Kenya is making plans to triple is electricity generating capacity by tapping its geothermal resources.

click to enlarge

WHEN
- Kenya plans to expand its generating capacity over 10 years.
- President Kibaki announced the new energy plan in June.
- Use of Kenya’s geothermal resources goes back at least to Roman times when the conquering armies used the hot waters for bathing.
- Kenya began drawing on its geothermal resources in the 1980s.

WHERE
- Kenya’s largest geothermal reservoir is beneath Lake Naivasha in the west of the country.
- The 300 degree Celsius water/steam is 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) below the earth’s surface.
- Experts and engineers are planning new drilling at the Olkaria plant near Naivasha, the country's main geothermal facility.

click to enlarge

WHY
- Kenya’s present generating capacity is 1,080 megawatts. Its present peak demand reaches almost 1,000 megawatts.
- Kenya plans to add 2,000 megawatts of capacity, 85% from geothermal.
- Estimates put Kenya’s total geothermal capacity at 3,000 megawatts.

QUOTES
- Silas Simiyu, top expert and facility head, Olkaria geothermal plant: "We have exploited our entire hydro-electric potential. Because of deforestation and the resulting erosion of the ground, the dams get clogged up with silt. It's a serious problem…Because geothermal energy is our only indigenous source of energy, we're going for it. We can supply Kenya's entire needs with geothermal alone…"