By E, KNA
The government has announced plans to construct a 700MW hydropower dam in the eastern region to bridge the growing demand for energy to facilitate growth and economic development
Currently, the state is encouraging private investors to partner with the state under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to raise at least Sh.340 billion to finance generation of energy to power the industrial sector.
The government has enhanced its partnerships by engaging development partners to accelerate projects that will turbo-charge plans to meet 100 percent power use from renewable energy sources by 2030.
According to Principal Secretary for Energy Alex Wachira, plans were at an advanced stage as the KenGen was already involved in the construction of the proposed dam expected to be completed in five years.
Speaking in Olkaria, Naivasha during the two-day Sustainable Energy Conference, Wachira said the extra power will complement the existing power sources from solar, wind and geothermal that was still insufficient to meet the local demand.
He added that the government seeks to address the energy demand gaps as a catalyst to the projected industrial revolution in the country.
He said the huge funding of sh. 340 billion will largely involve land acquisition at the proposed site as well as the construction in order to address energy poverty, carbon emissions and inequitable access.
This comes after the country’s high peak demand rose to the highest at 2,392mw last month from 2,149mw as more homes got connected to power.
The PS said under the Kenya Kwanza government, 1.2 million Kenyans have been connected to the electricity with more plans to power and extra one million homes by the end of 2026.
He said government plans to ensure universal access to electricity by the year 2030 were on course adding that they are seeking alternative partners to upgrade critical power distribution lines to enhance efficiency and power loss.
On his part, Kengen MD Engineer Peter Njenga said that the power generating company was committed to adding an extra 1,500mw into the national grid by the year 2034.
He said that the extra power which will be sourced from renewable energy sources mainly from geothermal, wind and solar will cost USD4.3 billion.
He welcomed plans for the construction of the hydro dam adding that more power will help the country achieve its ambitions of sourcing 100 percent power from renewable sources by the year 20230.
Njenga said currently, the country installed power capacity stands at 1,786 MW (3.3GigaWatts) where 90 percent is from renewable sources.
He added that through the company’s 10-year strategy (2024 -2034) to add the extra power, they were in talks with private and development partners to sustainably fund the ongoing projects to meet the targets.
He said the company was seeking an extra 200 MW of power from solar in Marsabit County, 200 MW from geothermal in Menengai, Nakuru and another 100MW in from Baringo to boost supply in the national grid.
KenGen has also set aside 342 hectares of land at its Olkaria geothermal fields where investors can establish their enterprises and power their operations from 100 percent green power at reduced costs.
Already, the government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Microsoft and G42 for the construction of USD 1billion modern data centre at the park.
The deputy head of the German embassy Alexander Fierley said that his country would continue to support Kenya in funding and capacity building towards green energy.
He said that German government has so far invested over Sh75billion in the energy sector in the country and this has contributed to generation of over 450mw.