Kenya: A Revolution in Energy Awaits, Who Will Tap It?

Photovoltaic (PV) technology is so far the best we’ve achieved. To be honest, not much to speak of. Limitations of this technology are legion, hardly going beyond 12 volts, grid connections are uneconomic as PV technology is far too expensive and the system isn’t suited for highly-intensive energy uses.

Search no more. A solution at last in the name of CSP, Concentrating Solar Power. CSP plants generate electricity by concentrating the sun’s rays to boiling water. The resulting steam drives turbines similar to those found in geothermal plants or those running on coal or natural gas. And yes, they are massive.
A plant in Acciona in Las Vegas, United States, called “Nevada Solar One” can generate up to 64 megawatts, equal to the capacity of Olkaria II at Naivasha.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) of the US has indicated that more CSP plants with a total capacity of 4,000MW are in the pipeline and have signed contracts to sell their future output. Just to put things in perspective, that is four times the actual power production levels in Kenya currently.

CSP provides an answer to PV’s main pitfalls, it does not involve expensive silicon wafers and wide, shiny, inviting panels open to abuse and vandalism.

There are several different types. The main ones use long curved mirrors to focus light on a tube of fluid running above them. Others use a complex array of smaller mirrors to focus light on a tower in their midst.

Some designs provide power round the clock by storing energy in the form of molten salt. Undoubtedly, this is the solution that Kenya and in deed Africa has been waiting for.

With more hours of sunshine than any other part of the world, unrivalled heat intensity in northern and parts of southern Kenya, and sufficient water resources Kenya seems the quintessential testing grounds for this most welcome, most gratifying technological discovery of our age.

AllAfrica