Kenya on right track to realising renewable energy dream

 Lake Turkana Wind Power Executive Chairman George Njenga during an interview on Spice FM on March 26, 2025. [Spice FM]

A growing population, a surge in industries, push for clean cooking alternatives, and a seemingly inevitable era of electric cars are some of the things that could stretch Kenya’s power consumption in the foreseeable future.

More consumption translates to more generation even as Kenya banks on sources other than fossil fuels as pangs of climate change such as drought bite.

The country has an ambitious target of a hundred per cent reliance on renewable energy sources including wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro energy by 2030, a dream Lake Turkana Wind Power Executive Chairman George Njenga says is within reach.

“Kenya has done well. We are beginning to rival countries who achieved this before us, like South Africa. It can be done,” said Njenga during an interview on Spice FM.

With an estimated power penetration rate of seventy-six percent, Kenya is considered a global leader, especially in renewable energy, which currently contributes ninety percent of the total power consumed.

Many Kenyans have been wired into the national grid in the last decade, owing to heightened electrification programmes in rural areas further increasing demand.

According to Njenga, Kenya is not far off the target but must make strategic interventions such as strengthening the transmission network, establishing sustainable power projects, and retention of skilled labour.

“Where power is generated often times is different from where it is consumed. We must therefore strengthen the power evacuation line which consists of the power lines, sub stations et cetera,” said Njenga.

“We must start thinking about local funding like pension funds, saccos or even local banks to complement disbursements from the development partners,” he added.

Many times, Kenya has looked for external funding for power projects, which proves costly as high interests accrue on account of a weak shilling against the dollar.

Lake Turkana Wind Power is the largest wind power project on the continent, contributing 310 Megawatts of the 400 Megawatts Kenya harnesses from wind.

A 2024 report by the International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce estimated that Kenya has the potential to produce 10,000 Megawatts of geothermal power but currently produces only 985 Megawatts from this source indicating the country's untapped potential.