Chinese funding and technology could help accelerate Kenya’s geothermal electricity generation helping the country shift entirely to renewable energy.
The first Chinese-funded privately-owned power-producing company in Kenya, Sosian Energy, will start feeding electricity generated from geothermal steam into the grid this month.
Moses Kachumo, a project engineer at the Kenyan agency that oversees the development of geothermal resources in the country, the Geothermal Development Company (GDC), noted that if the 35MW Sosian Menengai geothermal project is to go by, then support for Chinese engineering, technology, and financial model can hasten geothermal development in Kenya.
He said that Chinese companies investing in the sector are accelerating geothermal development since their approach is driven by flexible financial and engineering arrangements. The technology maximizes geothermal resources and has a shorter construction period.
Sosian Energy Managing Director, Venugopal Varanasi, explained that the project was designed and constructed by the state-owned PowerChina which will also maintain it through the contract agreement.
Privately-operated Zhejiang CHINT Electrics built the transmission and distribution system for the power generated at the Sosian Energy site to be fed to the national grid.
Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor, the project’s main contractor, manufactures air compressors that convert power into potential energy which is then stored as pressurized air. For Sosian Energy, some of the by-product steam from the generation is being pressurized to increase efficiency through Kaishan technology.
Chinese Engineering and Technology Can Hasten Kenya’s Geothermal Development
Varanasi said that using Kaishan technology, they can complete projects within 15 months in comparison to three years with comparable equipment from Japanese companies. With this reality, Kenya could easily supply electricity to the remaining 25% of Kenyans that are not yet connected to the grid.
The project was scheduled to start operations by September last year but government processes delayed the shipping of materials leading to the commencement of project works in May this year.
Varanasi added that Sosian Energy’s geothermal project will serve as a sort of blueprint for sustainable energy finance by combining public and private capital that he hopes will attract other investors from China and elsewhere.
An estimated 86% of Kenya’s electricity comes from low-carbon sources including geothermal, wind, hydro, and solar power. Geothermal energy contributes more than half of this low-carbon electricity.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Kenya’s installed geothermal capacity could increase eightfold as the country looks to scale up green manufacturing. The entrance of Chinese investors into Kenya’s geothermal electricity generation could be a game-changer in the sector that has Japanese and American investors as the main players.
In addition, if claims that Kaishan technology used by Sosian cuts project times from three years to 15 months, then more of this technology could probably be adopted across the geothermal generation sector increasing the number of projects completed and consequently power fed to the grid.
SUGGESTED READING:
- Rapid Transition Alliance: Doing Development Differently: How Kenya is Rapidly Emerging as Africa’s Renewable Energy Superpower
- Africa Outlook: Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA) : Spotlight by Jack Salter and Jordan Levey
