http://www.coastweek.com/3808-UNEP-to-help-East-Africa-tap-500-MW-of-geothermal-in-5-years.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2015-02/19/c_134005890.htm
UNEP to help East Africa tap 500 MW of geothermal in 5 years
Friday, 20 February 2015
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) will assist six East Africa states to tap 500 MW of geothermal power in the next five years.
Programme Manager for the UNEP’s African Rift Geothermal Development Facility Meseret Zemedkun told Xinhua in Nairobi that it has set aside 4.7 million U.S. dollars to catalyze the growth of geothermal power in the region.
“Our role will be to assist national governments to identify the exact location of their geothermal resources as well mitigate risks associated with exploration,” Zemedkum said on the sidelines of the workshop on the Women Entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy Project.
The beneficiaries’ country of geothermal power will include Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.
Kenya has so far utilized over 280 MW of geothermal power. The rest of the nations are yet to tap into the renewable energy power. The East Africa Rift System has an estimated potential of 20,000 MW with Kenya alone having 7,000 MW.
Zemedkum said geothermal also has direct use application in the agricultural and acquaculture fields, adding that geothermal, unlike other sources of power, is indigenous and never gets depleted.
The UNEP official said the resource has a high degree of availability compared to other renewable sources of energy such as hydropower and solar power.
Experts said the region’s energy poverty remains an obstacle to economic and human development.
The program manager urged regional governments to put in place adequate policies that will attract private sector funding into the sector.
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Kenya’s electricity cost set to stabilise with addition of 140MW
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s electricity cost is set to drop after the country’s power producer announced plans to inaugurate the 140MW Olkaria 1 power plant, the last phase of the 280 MW of Olkaria geothermal power.
Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) said the addition of 140MW later this week is expected to further stabilise the cost of electricity in the country.
“KenGen is proud to be on the lead in moving the country towards self sufficiency of reliable and affordable and renewable source of energy, which is also available almost 24/7,” KenGen’s CEO Engineer Albert Mugo told journalists late Monday.
He said the cost of electricity has reduced marginally since the addition to the national grid of about 280MW geothermal power as the fuel cost charge has reduced by 65 percent.
Mugo said President Uhuru Kenyatta will be joined by his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in presiding over the historic event among other regional leaders.
He said following the addition to the national grid of 280 MW geothermal power, the cost of fuel cost component, the single biggest item on the bills, has fallen from 0.09 U.S. dollars per kilowatt hours (kWh) in August 2014 when the first unit of the 280MW project started injecting to the national grid, to a low of 0.03 dollars in February.
“This represents a 65 percent drop in the fuel cost component. As a result, it has led to a decline in the overall cost of power to consumers,” he said, noting that the Mugo said the full effect of it has already reflected in the power bills.
The Olkaria 280MW project comprises the 140MW Olkaria IV and the Olkaria I units 4 and 5 each with a capacity of 70MW.
The 280MW which has been running since December 2014 and stable on the grid has helped reduce the cost of power by displacing the expensive thermal fuel.
This, Mugo said, has also helped stabilise the country’s power supply by reducing dependence on hydro, which is prone to weather variations.
According to KenGen, geothermal power accounted for 51 percent of electricity bought by households and businesses in December, from 14 percent in the same month in 2013.
Thermal sources or those powered by medium speed diesel and heavy fuel oil accounted for 21 percent and is the third highest source of electricity.
Currently, the company is injecting 1,575 MW to the national grid, with geothermal for the fourth month in a row surpassing hydro as the main source the electricity and helped avert power shortages at a time when rains have failed for the better part of last year and into the new year.
Received on Fri Feb 20 2015 - 08:39:42 EST