14 DAY TRIAL // High officials in Kenya have recently announced that, should things go as planned, the state will have at least 50% of its electricity demands met by solar by the year 2016.
Detailing on this initiative, they said that, by upping its dependence on this type of renewable, Kenya is to considerably lower its current energy costs.
“When the project is complete and solar is in good use, electricity costs could go down by as much as 80%,” says specialist Germano Mwabu with the University of Nairobi.
Besides, the state will improve on its ecological footprint by cutting down on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it coughs out on a yearly basis. The Guardian reports that, in order to have solar provide for over 50% of its electricity need by said date, the state is to invest heavily in new facilities that harvest this energy source.
Specifically, it appears that Kenya is ready and willing to build a total of nine brand-new solar power plants across its territory.
Of the nine eco-friendly electricity generating facilities that the state will add to its energy portfolio over the next few years, some are already nearing the end of their initial design stages.
Consequently, high officials are confident that construction activities will debut sometime this year.
The same source tells us that, for the time being, the costs associated with having more than half of Kenya's electricity needs met by solar power are estimated to amount to $1.2 billion (€0.88 billion).
“The costs related with hydro electricity are very high, considering they are influenced by the low water levels in major supply dams.”
“With high investments in solar, we will witness almost no blackouts and power charges will reduce because electricity will be in high supply,” Cliff Owiti with the Kenya Renewable Energy Association explained the state's decision to focus on making the most of sun energy.
Presently, Kenya is said to be the 46th country in the world in terms of solar power generation. This is due to the fact that, up until now, the state has invested some $500 million (€369.2 million) in harvesting this renewable.
Once the nine new solar power plants that Kenya intends to build are up and running, the country could become the third country in the world as far as its solar power output is concerned, specialists say.