Kenya & Mozambique RE gets global backing

Kenya Renewable Energy

Africa has an increasingly important role in the global fight against climate change as world leaders look to the continent to lead the rest of the developing world away from traditional sources of energy.

But what African nations need is the financial support of the developed world to meet renewable energy targets - and that is just what they're getting.

The World Bank has just announced it will be standing behind Kenya's recent efforts to switch from hydro dependency to more concerted renewable energy efforts as drought and water scarcity becomes a major obstacle to its energy plans. The UNEP has indicated that Kenya has the capacity to produce its entire electricity requirements from clean energy sources. According to the agency Kenya's wind energy alone stands at 2000MW and a further 7000MW from geothermal and substantial biomass resources.

Geothermal development one of the key energy projects

Obiageli Ezekwesili, the WB vice president, revealed that geothermal development was one of the key energy projects the bank would be ready to finance to help boost power production.

"Over a period of 10 years the government would need to invest US$4.5 billion in up-scaling the contribution of geothermal energy to 49 percent of its energy mix which we would be willing to partner with the government to make it possible," said Ezekwesili. But she also advised the Kenyan government not to rely to heavily on foreign investments to finance its energy vision, urging residents in its local communities to get more involved.

Africa also received some positive news from the European Commission, as the agency announced a loan of 100 million euros for Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The loan is part of the EC's Second Energy facility program, and comes in addition to the US$1.1 billion already given to develop renewable energy from the US-based Climate Investment Fund (CIF), was awarded to six African countries.

Mozambique ranked the most successful project under the program

The EC's Energy Facility Program was first launched in 2005, and Mozambique was ranked as the most successful project under the program as it put forward nine energy projects, seven of which were approved.

One of the largest obstacles currently standing in the way of Africa's energy development is the many political fractions that exist among its countries, and there have been concerns that increased energy production within the continent could lead to further hostility.

But in Kenya, there has recently been some significant progress made between itself and Ethiopia. Differences have been resolved between the two after disputes over the electricity import deal stalled two years ago amid opposition by environmental groups to the construction of a new hydropower dam.

Without cooperation foreign investment will never make a difference

Top officials claim a partnership between the pair could bring many benefits. A deal could see Kenya get hooked to Ethiopia's national power grid and major obstacles have been cleared to the 400kV international power transmission line expected to cost around Sh29 billion. Ethiopia is expected to realize a generation capacity of 2000MW by the end of this year once the three new hydropower projects it is building are complete, and intends to export the surplus to neighboring states.

This is a major step for Africa's energy development plans, because without cooperation and stability between its nations no amount of foreign investment will ever be able to make a difference.

Related Articles:

SA and Kenya make biig green strides | Africa power on with green projects | Ethiopia develops biofuels

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: