Kenya Photovoltaic Solar System plants that will be associated with the distribution of power in a total of eight counties namely: Narok County, Garissa County, Lamu County, Tana River County, Mandera County, Kwale County, Wajir County, and Kilifi County are yet to be installed in the coming future. The company in charge of electric energy distribution in Kenya, Kenya Power and Lighting Company Plc, has issued a tender for the deployment of off-grid solar power plants in the above-mentioned remote regions.
The approximate solar-powered energy potential in Kenya is estimated to be around 15000 MW. Currently, the energy capacity of the installed limit is over 100 MW with the biggest establishment being the Garissa Solar which has the capacity to produce 55MW of energy. Also, the Government of Kenya has endorsed the articulation of interests of over 35 projects under the Feed-in-Levy having over six (6) projects under development. This is an obvious sign that open doors exist for interests in the setting up of solar-oriented power plants, the manufacture of related parts like charge regulators, inverters, and batteries, and furthermore, the utilization of solar energy to give energy protection arrangements.
Also read: 1.5 MWp solar photovoltaic project for Nyeri, Kenya
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) which is Kenya’s energy controller and the Kenya energy administrative organization, has created and gazetted Energy (Solar Photovoltaic Systems) Guidelines, 2012 which foresee to smoothen out the solar-based PV industry. The guidelines accommodate permitting of solar-oriented professionals (specialists and project contractors) in the solar business to guarantee norms are maintained while doing solar-oriented establishments and installations.
Kenya Photovoltaic Solar System Budget Plan
The tender’s total budget stands at €133.8 million ($145.6 million). Kenya Power and Lightning Company stated that the selected contractors will have a responsibility to build the facilities and provide operations and maintenance services for a period of seven years. Companies that have the financial capacity and also show interest will have time until September 26 to submit their bids to KPLC. Coming to the end of the year 2022, the overall amount of installed solar capacity that had been installed in the country stood at 307 MW, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The agency concluded that approximately 90 MW of PV was newly distributed in the country in the previous year.
