Kenya has announced plans to add up to 600MW of new wind capacity over the next 6 years with the aim of boosting access to power across the country.
According to GE Renewable Energy Regional Executive for Sub-Saharan Africa Deo Onyango, the is a huge opportunity on wind energy sector and if utilized will see the country add between 50MW and 100MW of wind every year for the next five-to-six years.
“On the demand side, for sure there’s a continued increase in demand for power with industry, with the population and with access as well. We however expect to see a slowdown of the government accepting PPAs on solar,” said Deo Onyango.
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Fed-in- tariffs
He further acknowledged that feed-in tariffs in Kenya had reduced to about 11 cents per kilowatt hour from 12 cents/kWh five years ago, though the government recently set a price cap of around seven cents/kWh.
70% of the nation’s installed electricity capacity comes from renewable energy sources. The percentage more than three times the global average. The transition to fully renewable energy could further boost the population’s access to the national power grid and reducing manufacturing production costs.
Africa’s largest single wind power facility is currently being developed at Lake Turkana in Kenya’s Rift Valley, with separate investments to develop other wind power plants.
An estimated 9 million Kenyan households have access to off-grid renewable energy and this figure is set to rise.Among projects in development is the 102MW Kipeto facility, which will feature 60 GE 1.7-103 machines and is expected to come online in 2020.
