International Symposium on Earth Science and Technology 2018 Country Report of Geothermal Development in Kenya INTRODUCTION ENERGY SITUATION IN KENYA Energy Regulation commission (ERC) is a government body which regulates and approves energy retail tariffs to be charged per kWh. Electricity generation is liberalized with several licensed electric power producers, distributors and transmission utilities. Figure 2; Main stakeholders of Kenyan energy sector Figure 1: Map of Kenya, counties and position of Kenya in Africa (right). ENERGY GENERATION AND INSTALLATION Figure 4; Energy generation mix DEMAND AND SUPPLY FOR ELECTRICITY Since 2006, electricity peak demand rose from 900MW to about 1800MW in 2018 CONCLUSION Geothermal energy in Kenya has taken the base load due to its reliability, low cost as well as its minimum negative impact on environment. The Government of Kenya is fast- tracking geothermal development by encouraging both public and private sectors to take part in the development of geothermal resources in line with vision 2030. Geothermal development is set to phase out thermal power plants and thus reduce the cost of electricity to excite economic growth. Enhancement of specialized skills will be key to growth in future development of geothermal resource in Kenya, However, financing of geothermal projects remain the major challenge and involvement of the private sector should be encouraged. Direct utilization of geothermal resources still requires more improvement in order to realize full benefits of geothermal energy. FEED IN TARIFF APPLICABLE IN KENYA Kenya’s population is estimated to be 47-52 million, extrapolating from the trend of previous census survey Figure 3; Energy mix and future demand Customer Category $/kWh Commercial Industrial 1 0.21 Commercial Industrial 2 0.20 Commercial Industrial 3 0.17 Commercial Industrial 4 0.16 Commercial Industrial 5 0.16 Small Commercial/SME 0.22 Domestic Lifeline (less than 10kWh) 0.17 Domestic Lifeline (Above 10kWh) 0.22 Taxes & levies 0.20 Table 2; Electricity consumer tariffs Table 1; FiT applicable in Kenya CHALLENGES 1) High costs of power connectivity; though it reduced from $350 in 2013 to $150 in 2016, many Kenyans still find this amount unaffordable. 2) Rural electrification body also sites inadequate funding to carry out substantial rural electrification. 3) Deforestation and subsequent droughts continue to diminish cheap hydro-electric power hence pushing power prices up. 4) Inadequate financing of geothermal project due to scarcity of long term concessional loans. 5) Limited specialized skilled human capacity in all stages of geothermal development. SOLUTIONS 1) Connectivity should be subsidize through projects such as the ‘Last Mile Project’ to all homesteads. 2) Enlisting IPPs to provide financing at certain stages of development. 3) Continuous training of human capacity ENERGY DEMAND, SUPPLY AND ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY Figure 5 shows percentage of households connected to the electricity grid in 2009 and 2018. Access to electricity rose from 23% in 2009 to 56% in 2018. Figure 5; Access to electricity Kenya is currently ranked 9 th globally in installed capacity of geothermal energy. Geothermal is leading in the share of national electricity production. GDC was formed through an Act of Parliament in 2008 and mandated to fast-track exploration and development of steam. Development of Menengai field to produce 105MW is the biggest milestone undertaken by GDC. Currently GDC is mobilizing rigs to North Rift to develop 300MW at Baringo, Korosi, Paka, and Silali block. Figure 6; Baringo – Silali geothermal block 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 Percentage of population with access to electricity,(%) Access to electricity 2009 Access to electricity 2018 National Average 2009 National Average 2018 John Ng’ethe 1 , Leonard Langat 2 and George M. Muchiri 3 1 Jomo Kenyatta university of Agriculture and Technology 2 Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), 3 Geothermal Development Company