Received a blog post forwarded on Twitter regards a new development by Kenyan service provider KDN (Kenya Data Networks) a private firm that I have dealt with in the recent past regards wireless networking on their Butterfly WiFi service. An astute bunch of guys, I was not overly surprised to find that they have now installed their own solar grid to power their operations in Nairobi.
The KDN solar power plant generates 10MW of power, enough to buffer it from fluctuations in the grid which result in frequent brown outs, from state power provider Kengen. More importantly for the company, they are able to achieve savings of up to 80% in good weather & 50% in cloudy times, considering that electricity doubled in price last year, significant savings indeed.
KDN is one of the first private firms to operate in Kenya offering enterprise class connectivity to businesses across metropolitan areas & should be a prime beneficiary when Seacom goes live later this year. Having done a little more digging, I also managed to find this piece on YouTube from local news station NTV on the initiative. The entrepenurial spirit doesn’t stop there though. KDN has also opened a unit named Powersol, in a move aimed at supporting the government’s initiatives to provide cheaper and environmentally friendly energy sources. Powersol will be able to provide power-related equipment such as batteries, solar panels, charge controllers, energy saving bulbs, inverters & other electronics to enable KDN customers to tap into green energy. Great stuff & kudos & acclamation to the boys at KDN for thinking outside of the box.
This led me to having a scurry around the interweb, looking for further information on what is happening in the alternative energy sector in Africa. Probably the best known is the much lauded Desertec Project, which is looking at how to harness solar power in deserts around the world to provide renewable energy for the next generation. Much has been written & is available on Desertec, so am not going to insult anyones intelligence by reiterating what can be easily found with a search engine, however, Solar Feeds has some very good articles on this, that you can find here : MENA can bank billions from Desertec Project
But what of sub-Saharan Africa ? Well a few more clicks etc etc & I got to this article from South Africa’s Globe & Mail Online : Kenya to build Africa’s largest windfarm. Now, the boys at KDN have put on a good show, but this ? Having worked in Africa on & off for more than 12 years, this is pretty stirring stuff, especially when you think that Kenya recently had some very turbulent times over election results, with crowds on the streets of Nairobi & Mombasa toting pangas & inciting further unrest (the usual looting every store in the neighbourhood under the pretence of “fighting for democracy”)
About 365 giant wind turbines are to be installed in desert around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya creating the biggest windfarm on the continent. When complete in 2012, the $881-million project will have a capacity of 300MW, a quarter of Kenya’s current installed power and one of the highest proportions of wind energy to be fed in a national grid anywhere in the world.
According to Lake Turkana Wind Power Company (LTWP), which has an agreement to sell its electricity to the Kenya Power & Lighting Company, the average wind speed is 11m per second, akin to “proven reserves” in the oil sector, said Carlo Van Wageningen, chairperson of the company.
Of course, there are huge challenges to this project, both in logistics & security; for both the initial building of the wind farm, but also ongoing. This far out in the bush, the locals are not the most lawful to say the least & will need some convincing of the benefits. From what I can gather, the company will be offering “free” electricity to local towns & villages as a sweetener, which hopefully will be enough to keep things rolling.
In another development, market leader Vestas Wind Systems has a wind farm in operation near Nairobi in Masai country, where the turbines have been accepted after much speculation from local herders. At present, the site consists of six turbines that will generate upwards of 5MW of electricity for national supply when the site goes live nest month, another six turbines are scheduled to be phased in over the next two years.
Interesting times & good to see a mix of private, public & NGO work all striving in the same direction. I can only hope that all of these projects succeed & are not blighted by the graft that is prevalent in Africa as a whole & the security issues that Kenya faces.
FIN
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