Kenya is setting the pace in the region in the use of wind as a renewable source of energy by initiating the generation of 700MW for the national grid.

Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) has started building the 310MW facility in northern Kenya, and a state-owned generating firm plans to construct a 400MW plant in the east of the country.

READ: Works on 300MW Turkana wind farm start

The German Development Bank (KfW) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) of France are conducting a due diligence of the wind farm of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) in Meru.

“The first phase of the project for the 50-100MW project will be financed by concessional funding, which is low-cost,” said KenGen’s chief executive officer Albert Mugo.

He said KenGen intends to use concessional funding of up to $1.3 billion in the next two to four years in capital expenditure on sustainable energy projects to increase power supply in the country.

Rise in generation

Wind generation currently constitutes 1 per cent of electricity output: It is expected to rise to 11 per cent in line with the government’s strategy of Kenya having an additional 5,000MW by 2018.

According to the Ministry of Energy, parts of Marsabit, Kajiado, Laikipia, Meru, Nyandarua, Kilifi, Lamu, Isiolo, Turkana, Samburu, Narok and Kiambu Counties have good wind speeds for power generation.

Kenya’s draft National Energy and Petroleum Policy of 2015 outlines challenges as high upfront costs for equipment and investment in transmission lines, and areas being far from electricity demand centres.

Other challenges are competing interests in land use, inadequate wind data, and inadequate skilled capacity for wind power technology.