Day 1 – 13.00 – Country Spotlight: Republic of Kenya

Host:

Khilna Dodhia, CEO & Co-Founder, Kenergy Renewables

Ministerial Keynote Speech Honourable Davis Chirchir, Cabinet Secretary for Energy & Petroleum, Republic of Kenya.

Speakers:

• Alex Wachira, Principal Secretary, State Department for Energy, Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, Republic of Kenya
• Isaac Kiva, Secretary, Renewable Energy Directorate, State Department for Energy, Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, Republic of Kenya
• John Mativo, MD/CEO, KETRACO, Republic of Kenya
• Joseph Siror, MD & CEO, Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC), Republic of Kenya
• Paul Ngugi, MD & CEO, Geothermal Development Company (GDC), Republic of Kenya
• Abraham Serem, Acting MD & CEO, KenGen, Republic of Kenya
• John Mutua, Director Economic Regulation, Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Republic of Kenya
• Collins Juma, CEO, Nuclear Power & Energy Agency (NuPEA), Republic of Kenya
• Joe Sang, MD, Kenya Pipeline Company, Republic of Kenya
• Rose Mkalama, General Manager, Information, Education & Communication, Rural Electrification & Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC), Republic of Kenya

The first of aef 2023’s Country Spotlight sessions got underway on day one with a focus on host nation Kenya – once again in a packed-out Plenary Theatre.

The session centred around a ministerial keynote presentation delivered by Alex Wachira, Principal Secretary, State Department for Energy, Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, who outlined the major opportunities and challenges that are shaping Kenya’s energy landscape.

“We have made remarkable strides in the past decades in connecting households to the grid and developing clean energy,” he said. “A key factor of our success is our diverse energy mix which we need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote sustainable development.”

Indeed, Kenya is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources and growing its installed capacity by around 5% a year. It is home to the most significant wind power installation in Africa, the 310 MW site at Lake Turkana. Kenya is also the sixth largest geothermal producer in world despite having tapped into only a fraction of its potential. Meanwhile, the country houses 6,000 MW of hydroelectric potential alongside a solar producing capacity of around 4-6KW per square metre per day.

Currently, 73% of Kenya’s installed power generation capacity is renewable, with renewables accounting for 92% of the country’s energy mix.

In his speech, Alex Wachira outlined how various sustainable energy targets can be met – these include reaching 100% energy generation from renewables by 2030, 100% access to clean cooking fuel by 2028, and accelerating progress made in access to electricity, which currently stands at 77% of Kenya’s population.

Honourable Davis Chirchir added: “In addition to expanding geothermal fields, we are looking at new regions to explore the immense potential… advances in geothermal generation have also led to progress in other technologies and methods which is making this form of power generation more efficient. We are only scratching the surface.”

The session concluded with a discussion chaired by Khilna Dodhia, CEO & Co-Founder of Kenergy Renewables.

Made up of representatives from Kenya’s State Department for Energy, Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, KenGen, Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Power & Lighting Company, Geothermal Development Company and several other key public and private energy sector stakeholders, the panel touched on a range of issues. Key among them were initiatives to expand clean cooking to reduce deforestation, the criticality of the private sector in meeting 2030 targets, the development of PPP projects in the transmission and storage space, and the work being done to reduce electricity costs for Kenyan citizens and businesses.