The Future of Coal in Kenya

As a developing country Kenya has had a growing demand for energy that has continually outstripped supply majorly driven by current and future infrastructure projects such as LAPSSET, SGR electrification and many others.

Currently Kenya’s electricity is generated from geothermal (47% of consumption), hydropower (39%), thermal (13%) and wind (0.4%).  Kenya’s current installed electricity capacity is estimated at 2.4GW, 1.5GW of which is grid-connected and 500MW of which has come online since mid-2014.

Despite increasing installed capacity, the demand for power in Kenya is rising at a faster pace than supply, and consumption of electricity per consumer is decreasing.  This may be attributable to inadequate expansion of the network that connects individuals with low demand for electricity, or unmatched demand due to slow increase in generation compared to rise in consumers.

Further future infrastructure projects such as electrification of the standard gauge railway popularly known as Madaraka Express which is espoused to run From Mombasa to Kisumu, Transportation of Oil from Turkana to Mombasa through oil pipelines and other projects under the vision 2013 are bound to increase the energy appetite.

In order to meet this future demand the Kenya government through AMU Power are setting up a coal plant in Lamu albeit ferocious resistance majorly from the local community and environmentalist  who submit that the project would cause irreversible damage to the environment, lead to a rise in pollution related illnesses and disrupt their livelihoods among other reasons.

Despite Its environmental impact, coal is a practical energy option for fast-growing economies like Kenya. Nations such as China and India have used coal and fossil fuel to drive their economies given the need for cheap energy.

Coal, and other fossil fuels, remain the backbone of the global energy system and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

The discussion Kenya should be having is how we deploy current technology such as carbon capture, use and storage to ensure coal plants in Kenya do not emit as much harmful emissions as traditional coal plants.

The World Coal Association says that lifting the average global efficiency rate of coal plants to 40 percent compared to 33 percent today would reduce carbon output by an amount equal to India’s annual carbon.

Kenyans must understand that the basic attraction of coal remains its low cost and abundance. In the next 10 to 20 years, coal’s value is likely to grow, as advanced coal plants, including some retrofitted with carbon capture, meet the world’s growing need for energy while helping reduce greenhouse emissions.