In Kenya, 87% of the electricity is from renewal sources

The Best Summary Of Kenya Renewable Energy (& Dirty Energy) You Can Find, Clean Technica, David Zarembka, 24 May 19 I do not need to feel guilty about contributing to global warming when my grandchildren turn on the TV to watch cartoons. This is because I live in rural, western Kenya, where 87% of the electricity is from renewal sources — the nirvana of Green Deal activists.With a population of almost 50 million (one-seventh the size of the US population), electricity capacity is only 2370 MW and peak demand is only 1770 MW. The average Kenyan consumes only 167 kWh of electricity per year. Kenyans also contribute only 0.03 percent of worldwide carbon admission to the atmosphere each year, equal to about 1 percent of what each American contributes.

It is useful to study the sources of electricity in Kenya to see how this renewable rate is achieved.

Not as surprising is that the second largest source of electricity is hydropower, at 705 MW, or 30%. Kenya is already a water-stressed country with only two year-around rivers that reach the ocean. 80% of the country is semi-arid or arid, with only 20% arable where most of the people live. The problem with hydropower is that is depends upon rainfall.

In 2017, there was a drought and the water levels in the lakes behind the dams that produce electricity fell too low to generate their normal amount of electricity. Then, as frequently happens in a climate such as Kenya’s, in 2018 there was major flooding and all the dams on the Tana River, including Masinga Dam, overflowed, leading to flooding in the lower reaches of the river. Hydropower cannot be considered a reliable source of power, so alternative sources need to be available.

The Lake Turkana Wind Farm, the largest in Africa at 310 MW, just came online last September. It had taken nine years for this to happen. In addition to the regulatory and financial issues, the $740 million cost included upgrading 125 miles of road to carry the wind turbines to the remote site and a transmission line to carry the electricity back to the center of the country. At one point in 2012, the World Bank withdrew their funding for the project because they thought (incorrectly, it turns out) that the wind farm would generate too much excess electricity that could not be used. Another delay occurred when the Spanish company that received the contract to build the transmission line went bankrupt. These are the usual type of issues that occur in a developing country.

The wind farm is sited in one of the best places for wind in the world. The wind blows off of Lake Turkana and is funneled between two hills, giving an extremely high wind potential. The project uses 365 Vestas 850kW wind turbines. In this day and age, I was disappointed that the wind farm used such small turbines, but the problem was transporting the turbines over 750 miles from the coast on two-lane roads.

There is a second smaller wind farm in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi. Originally, it had a capacity of 5.1 MW, but it is now being upgraded with more turbines to 25.5 MW.

Since the equator runs right through the middle of Kenya and that much of the country is arid and semi-arid, one would assume that solar generation of electricity would be a no-brainer. Although home/small-scale solar systems are very common in Kenya (which I will cover in another article), grid-scale projects are just beginning to be built. The largest one currently under construction is the 55 MW solar farm in Garissa, 225 miles northeast of Nairobi. One of the issues with solar farms is that they take up a considerable amount of land. But land in the arid and semi-arid areas ideal for solar farms are controlled by pastoralists who move from place to place, sometimes for hundreds of miles, in search of grass and water. The land is, therefore, group controlled and it is difficult to get the group to agree on the siting and compensation for the use of the land for a solar farm. Perhaps as more solar farms are built and people realize the benefits, people will become more cooperative and accommodating. Solar power potential in Kenya is enormous and their development is just beginning. …….. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/03/30/the-best-summary-of-kenya-renewable-energy-dirty-energy-you-can-find/