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The government is aiming to more than double solar-power capacity as part of a longer-term policy to lower the cost of electricity following a vow to support green energy industries.
Kenya’s decision to adopt an auction-based system for establishing renewable energy project will mean that only reputable solar companies are selected to develop and deliver solar projects, with the government hopeful that the auction plan will lead to a drop in power cost for consumers.
The government wants by June 2018 to expand solar by 1.52 gigawatts from current levels on the way to achieving capacity of 20 gigawatts by 2025.
“Solar systems (at commercial scale) tied to storage are on the rise in Kenya, and as power outages persist in in the country, more businesses are turning to solar hybrid technology where a solar system works in tandem with the grid, storage and other renewables,” said Guy Lawrence a director at solar firm, Solarcentury.
Solarcentury is currently building two solar hybrid systems for Kenyan firms icipe and London Distillers both of whom are looking to cut their energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.
The new regime is also expected to bring down the cost of solar to about 8US cents per kilowatt-hour from the current feed-in-tariff of 12US cents per kWh to the lowest bidder.
The first solar power system with a power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply electricity to the national grid under the current feed-in-tariff was mooted in 2015 but has achieved little headway since even after China had in June, 2015 announced plans to build a 50-MW solar plant in Garissa.
The sector’s development to date has been limited mainly to smaller-scale projects in both rural and unconnected urban areas
By 2017 the country has an ambitious target of generating 5000 MW to the national grid – 1600 MW from geothermal sources, 1920 MW from coal-powered plants, 420 MW from hydro and 650 MW from wind.
Available figures show that the total rate of electrification within the country fall below 50 per cent, and according to figures from the African Development Bank (AfDB), just 32 per cent of the Kenyans had access to electricity as of 2014, while in mid-2015 Kenya Power indicated that national electrification stood at 47 per cent.