Another brick laid vision 2030 looks real

OlKaria I&ii generate 150mw. Ol KariaIV to add 280Mw 

O.K CALL ME AN OPTIMIST and I shall plead guilty as charged. In my vocabulary, half –empty glasses don’t exist-only half full.  At least half-full glasses can be filled.

But I shall announce to all and sundry that another brick has been laid for Kenya’s vision 2030.

Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki, early this week commissioned what will be the largest geothermal power plant in Africa. It is the US$1.3 billion OlKaria IV which will produce a whopping 280MW of geothermal power by 2014.

Olkaria IV is co-financed by Ken Gen, World Bank, German Development Corporation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the French Development Agency (FDA), and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

This follows hot on the heels of award of a €31million (ksh3.2 billion) contract for the construction and upgrading of more than 300KM of roads by the Lake Turkana wind power project. The contract was awarded to Mombasa based engineering and construction firm, Civicon Kenya.

The €582 million project in Northern Kenya will produce some 300MW of wind generated electricity, also another first in Africa. In short Kenya has formed a bad habit of firsts, firsts to send fellows to ICC, First in Olympics games pocketing a number of gold medals. I wonder why no one has thought of awarding us a gold medal in use of green energy.

Olkaria, once completed in 2014, will add e 25 per cent to Kenya‘s grid. And Lake Turkana wind which also comes on stream in 2014, will also add another 25- 30 percent to the grid. In short, come 2014 and renewable energy will contribute 750 MW of electricity to the national grid.

In political parlance renewable energy will form the majority, of power sources in Kenya. And with GDC also plotting to add another 1600MW of Geothermal power over the same year, we can say, renewable energy will form the runaway majority in power generation.-Where is that gold medal?