[ad_1]
By
Desmond Davies, GNA London Office Manager
Nairobi, 25 July, GNA – Kenya is the main
East African countries with access to electricity – having sustained growth
from 32% in 2015 to 73.42% in April this year, according to
World Bank figures.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that
was because his government had made sustained investments in energy a priority
in the last five years.
Opening of the third general meeting of shareholders
"Africa50" in Nairobi, he said the challenge of electricity remained and
he called on the private sector in Africa to support the infrastructure
investment platform.
If Africans themselves have not invested in
their infrastructural development, how could they expect from foreigners, to invest
on the continent.
President Kenyatta then announced the doubling
Kenya's current investment in Africa50 to 100 million US dollars.
"We must have the confidence to trust and
invest in our own infrastructure, "he added.
" Develop our partnership and do Africa50
a success. "
The recurring theme at the Opening Ceremony
was the need for more investments in the supply of electricity on the continent
where more than 600 million people did not have access to power.
The President of the African Development Bank
(AfDB) and the president of Africa50, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said at a press conference:
"Africa's economies can not function without electricity and we need more and more
rural areas. "
AfDB invests heavily in energy
Africa and supports coal projects in Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal
following the call of US President Donald Trump to the multilateral development banks to
finance clean and efficient coal production.
Dr. Adesina said: "Africa needs to develop its
energy sector with what he has.
"Featuring many different sources of energy –
both renewable and conventional – Africa needs a balanced energy mix.
"This must include renewable and conventional energy
sources of power. "
Kenya's energy policy, which includes two
coal-fired power plants at Lamu and Kitui, aims to obtain the rest of the
country connected to the national network.
These two projects use the last
Coal technology, which experts say is improving all the time.
Feasibility studies for the 960 megawatt power plant
in Kitui, where coal deposits of over 400 million tons have been discovered,
are in clbad.
The Ministry of Energy of Kenya declared that the new coal
This project would further diversify the energy mix and stimulate economic growth.
The Lamu plant should start at
electricity in 2021, having overcome the obstacles placed by the local environment
activists
It would produce 1,050 megawatts of power and
will initially depend on coal imported from South Africa.
With other African countries turning to coal,
things start to look for those who do not have access to electricity on the
continent.
The World Bank noted: "Sub-Saharan Africa
Electrification deficit began to fall in absolute terms for the first
There is also a growing foreign interest
Coal production in Africa, with US general electricity leading
buy a 20 percent stake in Lamu's factory and pledge to provide
clean coal technology.
Francis Njogu, CEO of Amu Power Company, who
is the construction of Lamu, plant told Kenya Business Daily: "Coal is extremely
flexible and cheap.
"If you look at the countries of Europe, they use
coal plants to moderate the fluctuations of renewable energies.
"You can reduce a coal plant to 30%
of its capacity.
"So, in the case of Lamu, each unit in phase is 327
MW [and] you can bring it to 110-120 MW.
"In this way, it adapts to the load profile of the
Mr. Njogu added
on the issue of emissions, he said that
The Lamu plant will bring low sulfur coal from South Africa.
"In addition to that, we are required to meet
the latest World Bank, AfDB and Kenya standards; basically at three levels
standards.
"We have designed a coal plant that has a
environmental protection system [and] which makes it a clean coal factory, "Mr.
Njogu said.
"This will be the most advanced factory in Africa
incorporating the latest GE technology like Hbadyan coal 2400 megawatts
factory in Dubai which is under construction. "
President Trump advances a
international alliance of fossils from countries ready to use clean technologies for
produce coal as well as gas and oil.
BP's Statistical Review of Global Energy
2018, released last month, showed an increase in coal consumption and highlighted the
importance of low-emission technologies.
The World Coal Association said about the review:
"We often badume that if we get rid of coal, we can cope with the climate
goals.
"However, coal is not the problem, emissions
are.
"So instead of trying to eliminate coal in
in order to reduce emissions, we should be dealing with coal emissions,
something that will significantly contribute to the realization of the Paris Agreement
"Well below the target of 2 degrees".
GNA
Source link
