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Kenya

Developers Plan 120 MW Solar Power Capacity In Kenya

written by saurabh

Foreign investors continue to flock to Kenya as the government opens up the renewable energy sector for expansion and prepares radical changes to the project allocation policy.

Radiant Energy, Eldosol Energy and Alten Energy Solarfarms have announced plans to set up three projects of 40 MW capacity each in the Uasin Gishu county, eastern Kenya. All projects are expected to come up under the feed-in tariff scheme that allows developers to earn a highly attractive rate of US$12.0/kWh, nearly six times the current lowest solar PV bid globally.

Funding for projects by Radiant Energy, Eldosol Energy have been approved by the European Investment Bank for funding and a final agreement for loan disbursal is expected to be signed soon.

All three companies are expected to be among the last beneficiaries of the feed-in tariff program.

According to media reports, the government will soon replace the existing feed-in tariff program with competitive auctions. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is currently working on a regulation to enable this change which should be ready for implementation within 3 months.

ERC believes that competitive auctions will force project developers to reduce tariffs, which would ultimately benefit the end consumers. At present, the feed-in tariff program awards projects to developers at fixed rates with built-in profit margin. Competitive auctions will force the developers to give away some of that margin.

Image by vectoropenstock.com for Cleantechies

10/31/2016 0 comment

Water & Conservation

Clean Water Filtration: A Basic Necessity

written by Walter Wang

Clean water is a vital concern as many parts of the world struggle with its availability. Kenya is a prime example of a country on the edge. Kenya’s people have long struggled with lack of availability of fresh water creating hazardous health conditions. According to the World Bank, the country’s population is well over 43 million people. The country is one of the

11/29/2013 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Optimizing Corn Production in the Face of Climate Change

written by Walter Wang

Kenya is no stranger to adaptation when it comes to food production. Kenya’s cultural and political underpinnings are reliant upon adaptation to current climatic conditions. Present predictions are that drastic adaptation will be necessary once again. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Association for Strengthening

09/18/2013 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Solar Panels Help Prevent Malaria in Kenya

written by Walter Wang

Rusinga Island, located in the eastern part of Lake Victoria in Kenya, is having solar panels installed on homes to not only provide electricity but to aid in the fight against malaria. Malaria kills an estimated 1.2 million people per year and is a big problem for the 30,000 inhabitants of Rusinga Island. If fitting homes with solar panels that power insecticide-free

05/06/2013 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Top Ten Highlights of Cleantech in Africa

written by Walter Wang

The developing nations resting on the continent of Africa have become in recent years popular destinations for applying clean technologies, including renewable energy. Because of the excessive cost associated with transporting electricity from power plants, small-scale geothermal, wind, and solar devices have

12/07/2011 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Pay-As-You-Go Solar System Being Tried in Africa

written by Walter Wang

A UK company called Eight19 has announced a solution called IndiGo, a pay-as-you-go, personal electricity system for the developing world. The system combines solar energy and mobile phone technology and allows users to light their homes and charge mobile phones as a service, paid for using

10/10/2011 1 comment

Renewable Energy

World Bank Gives Kenya $110 Million for Power Projects

written by Walter Wang

The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA, has allocated $110 million to Kenya to finance increased production of geothermal power.

The World Bank released a statement commenting, “MIGA has increased its coverage against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil

10/03/2011 0 comment

Renewable Energy

$2.7 Million Solar Panel Factory Opens in Naivasha, Kenya

written by Walter Wang

Ubbink East Africa has built a $2.7 million solar panel factory in Naivasha, Kenya. Ubbink East Africa Managing Director Haijo Kuper said during the official opening ceremony that the company will be producing 100 solar panels per day at the new facility, noting, “Our prices are at par with our

09/06/2011 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Africa goes solar… (if the utilities let them, and if they find money)

written by Gary Zieff

Following up from my last post. Other areas of interest at the World Bank’s Energy Week conference included rural electrification. Grid connection is notoriously poor throughout Africa. Tanzania, for example, is around 22% depending on whom you talk to. In addition, just because a community has a grid penetration, it doesn’t mean everyone in that community has power at their house. Connections are expensive. The waiting list for the utility to make the connection is long.

Often time people take it upon themselves to make their own connection. Even if they do have power, it might not be reliable. Kenyan Power and Lighting Company is estimated to have around 11,000 outages per month. The other option for people to address lack of (or unreliable) grid connection is to support it with solar PV or fuel based generators. These two technologies support communities, can add capacity to the grid (if connected), and provide a potentially cheaper way to provide power to end-users (factoring in the implied costs associated with transmission) .

04/17/2009 0 comment