SA and Kenya make big green strides

SA and Kenya make green strides

As Africa continues to push forward in its efforts to become one of the big players in the developing world in the fight against climate change, two of its most important nations have taken important steps in the green industry.

In South Africa the solar energy plant planned for Paarl, in the Western Cape, could start producing power in the next two to three years, that's according to Henri Loubser, project director for new energy at Sasol. The thin-film solar energy facility is a public-private partnership between the University of Johannesburg and private investors; Sasol has a 40 percent stake in the project.

Kenya scoring well on the "green chart"

Also, Kenya received some good news from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) after being told the East African nation is scoring well on the "green chart". The country currently has 14 green energy and climate friendly projects emerging as part of a clean development mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The total number of green projects has grown by nine since 2004 as the country looks to reduce its carbon emissions.

The South African solar facility, subject to a loan from the European Investment Bank in 2008, will have 40MW capacity. AE-Africa.com reports that other shareholders in the project are the state-owned Central Energy Fund (45 percent) and the National Empowerment Fund (6.5 percent). Through its commercial arm, Photovoltaic Intellectual Property, the University of Johannesburg has an 8.5 percent interest in the partnership.

African CDM projects worth 212m euros a year

In regards to Kenya's progress, the UNEP has lauded praise upon the Kenyan government for the development of projects such as the 35 MW at the bagasse cogeneration facility of Mumias Sugar Co. There are also a further CDM 13 projects that the Kenyan authorities are hoping will also be recognized, all at various stages of validation.

Conversion of the Kipevu open cycle gas turbine to a combined cycle operation project (35 MW) and optimization of Kiambere hydro power project are among those in Kenya's CDM pipeline.

On November 18, NGP&E Africa reported that a total of 112 CDM Africa projects are at a "validation, requesting registration registered" stage, and are thought to be worth around 212 million euros a year.

The increasing number of projects in Africa make the continent an ever more important force in the global fight against climate change in the lead up to December's UN Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen.

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