Renewable energy in Finland

BY JOSEPHAT SIROR

HELSINKI, FINLAND: Amid soaring energy costs and deficit, foreign pundits and Kenyans living in diaspora met to discuss alternative ways of bridging energy needs in the country.

Meeting in Helsinki under the caucus; ‘Connect Africa’ alongside Federation of Universities of Applied Sciences (FUAS) and funded by the leading industrial research institute (TEKES), the meeting involved Finnish SMEs and other research agencies.

They group deliberated on strategies for creating sustainable business focused on energy solutions and aimed at developing economies. Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa featured prominently in the forum as the fastest growing economies in the African continent and with a growing energy deficit.  

According to Peter Kuria, the founder and director of Shalin Finland  and a co-organiser of the meeting, renewable energy represents the greatest growth potential as a business not only for technology companies from Finland, but also for Kenyan SMEs engaged in this sector.  

However, there is a need to radically change the way renewable energy is introduced into the market.  The students from Chandaria Innovation Center who are collaborating with the Connect Project have defined a new entry strategy that is very exciting”.  

The experts supported the model being developed by Chandaria Innovation Center at Kenyatta University which creates a direct link between the RE sector particularly with the real estate, and concept cities who are the best anchors of renewable energy technologies.   

“This is a huge opportunity where investors need to focus on,” said Pia Salokoski, TEKES Groove Programme Manager official referring to renewable energy markets in Africa. 

Concerns of bureaucratic legislations, poor knowledge of the market, low capacity building and absence of warrantees for foreign investors in Africa emerged during the forum dubbed ‘Enter Africa.  

Coincidentally, Kenya is one of the countries in Africa facing herculean task in its bid to meet domestic demand for electricity. Kenyan ambassador in Stokholm, Sweden Dr Joel Sang, said in a forum note that there is urgent need for private sector sector in renewable energy. 

“There is an urgent call for Private sector investments in Renewable Energy to be able to meet growing demand of connectivity to the national grid by the population,” Sang noted.  

The forum found that huge costs and environmental factors triggered by erratic weather patterns has hampered production of hydro and thermal output– the country’s major sources of energy.

This has compelled the country to go overboard as it thrives to strike demand and supply gap.  Kenya has envisioned in her blueprint to realize 100 megawatts from solar in the next two years and 500 megawatts by 2030. 

Statistics by World Bank indicate that millions of homes lack access to electricity in the country coupled with growing energy production strain. From June last year, the demand is projected to grow from 1,354MW to 3,400MW by 2015, according to ministry of energy. And the capacity will even spiral further in 2030, fifteen times above current generation 1,664 MW capacity in the country. 

It is against this backdrop that Finnish investors are been rallied to hit the market with alternative energy solutions open to private investments and international collaborations with state agencies. 

Finnish companies are known for the high quality renewable energy technologies, but they are also expensive. During the forum, entrepreneurs offered to put focus on the Kenyan market particularly in provision of renewable energy solutions. Three universities of applied sciences from Finland; Lahti, Laurea and Hameen are part of project involved in renewable energy solutions.