Kenya: Geothermal Key to Power Woes – Firm

Geothermal energy is the answer to Kenya’s unreliable and expensive electricity, an investment adviser has said. The country’s geothermal potential is estimated at more than 7,000 megawatts compared to the current output of 1,100 MW.

Sixty two per cent of the existing power production is from hydropower, which is undependable because it relies on rainfall, while more than half of the remainder comes from thermal, an expensive source of electricity because it is oil-fired.
During power crises, the government routinely procures high cost emergency thermal electricity. For instance, while Kenya pays around 12 United States cents (Sh9.36) per kilowatt-hour to buy electricity from renewable sources, emergency power generators are paid 20 US cents (Sh15.60) for the same unit.

During the 2006 drought, the year in which the government used emergency thermal power generators for a year, operators were paid Sh34.4 billion.

“We need to keep away from thermal power generation and invest more in geothermal power because we believe it will be the next frontier for energy generation,” said Stanbic Investment Management Services (Sims) chief investment officer Anthony Mwithiga.

He told a media briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday that geothermal was the only source of electricity that would reduce costs and guarantee supply. Currently, 14 per cent of the Kenya’s electricity generation is from geothermal sources.

AllAfrica