A total of 443,254 new customers were connected to the national electricity grid in the 2013/2014 financial year, the Energy ministry has told a parliamentary committee.   At the same time, the Rural Electrification Authority plans to have 6,065 primary schools supplied with electricity by the end of this financial year.   REA acting managing director Ng’ang’a Munyu told the committee that the plan was to have 5,000.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 20th August 2014

 After eight years in the pipeline, the 300MW Lake Turkana wind power project finally signed financing agreements worth €498m ($687m) on 24 March. The much-publicised project, described as the largest private investment in Kenyan history, has the support of a wide range of financiers, led by a revitalised African Development Bank (AfDB), but the time taken to reach financial close highlights the difficulty, even in private sector.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 19th August 2014

 Irish-registered Kibo Mining is in the early stages of planning a 300-350MW mine-mouth plant at the Rukwa coal field in the Mbeya region. Chief executive Louis Coetzee told African Energy the proposed open-cast mine method and on-site development should keep generation costs low, with power then fed into the national grid to help tackle Tanzania’s growing power supply deficit. “It is impossible to deny the business opportunity.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 19th August 2014

 A new investor consortium plans to develop a series of small-scale distributed renewable energy projects in the southern Morogoro region. Kastan Mining announced on 26 May that it had entered into a consortium with Indonesia-based Continental Energy Corporation, Pan African Management and Development Company (Panafra), a US-based infrastructure fund and asset manager, and local energy group, Kitonga Power Electric Company (Kepoco), to form.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 19th August 2014

  Ministry of Energy and Petroleum cabinet secretary Davis Chirchir has said that negotiations with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a KSh60bn ($680m) loan for a project to expand access to electricity from 32% to 70% over five years are at an advanced stage and should be completed by December. Disbursement of the first Sh12bn instalment is anticipated in this financial year. Speaking at a media briefing for transmission and.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 19th August 2014

 BLESSED with the potential to generate over 4,000 megawatts of electricity from geothermal sources, the government has formed a company to steer the country into effectively and beneficially tapping it.   Operating as a subsidiary of Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), the Tanzania Geothermal Development Company started operations in July this year, according to the Energy and Minerals Minister, Professor Sospeter.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 19th August 2014

American companies should compete to develop power projects if Kenya is to get a bigger chunk of funds under Power Africa, according to Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir.   Power Africa is an initiative by the American government to help double access to electricity in Africa countries. It is initially focusing on six countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia.   The initiative.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 18th August 2014

An Italian company called TerniEnergia has won a contract to engineer, procure and construct two solar power plants in South Africa.   The installed capacity of the plants will be 148.5MW.  A 66MW plant will be built at the Tom Burke solar plant, located near the northern boarder with Botswana, and a 82.5 MW plant will be based in Paleisheuwel in the south-west, 190km from Cape Town.   The contract has to be closed by the.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 18th August 2014

 RURAL electrification has proved to be efficient driver in promoting value addition particularly of agricultural products that helped farmers to fetch premium market prices.     Statistics from Rural Energy Agency (REA) shows that there are 16 small hydropower projects operating since 1970's and 13 projects with a total capacity of 28.8 MW which are in various stages of development.     Presenting research paper.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 15th August 2014

 Nairobi — Kenya is set to gain more wind farms as the East African country moves to increase and diversify its clean energy resources. Nairobi-based company Bluesea Energy Ltd has announced it will begin producing 40 megawatts (MW) in the second half of 2015 at its flagship wind power plant in Meru, expanding the renewable energy mix of a country that has previously relied on hydro and geothermal energy. "We are.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 15th August 2014

13 wind power sites will be put up in Kenya through the Wind for Prosperity power project. The sites are meant to benefit mainly the local communities where the wind turbines will be set up in off grid areas.   The project, dubbed Wind for Prosperity, will target establishment of the wind power plants in remote areas in Kenya.   One and three turbines, each with 660 kilowatts will be set up according to Morten Dyrholm, the Vestas.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 15th August 2014

 KenGen Assistant Manager Peter Ouma says adoption of geothermal wellhead generators would help reduce the time it takes to generate electricity from geothermal steam wells. Geothermal wellheads are smaller power producing units that generate between 5 and 10 megawatts of electricity. Ouma says the wellheads are affordable and easy to install, and help in early tapping of electricity while waiting for the construction of big geothermal.... Read more »

Posted on : Thursday , 14th August 2014