Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga has invited foreign private investors to develop geothermal fields in Kenya saying the country had the potential to provide 7,000 MW of clean and reliable geothermal energy.
He noted that 90 per cent of the wells so far drilled had steam in sufficient quantity and in high temperature, and told investors to discard the notion that it was risky to invest in the development of geothermal energy in Kenya.
“I note in particular the enormous potential in geothermal, which if explored, we can easily provide 7,000MW of clean and reliable energy,” he said in Nairobi.
He made the comments as he opened the green energy electricity conference organized by the Government in conjunction with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
He hastened to add, however that the government will not wait indefinitely for investors and was prepared to allocate a large amount of its own resources and also borrow to develop geothermal fields in the country as rapidly as possible.
He said Kenya must seek to develop power with reasonable tariffs that can translate to reduced costs to end-users, and emphasized that the country would not compete in the global market with high cost of electricity.
Reiterating that the development green energy requires large amounts of funds, Odinga appealed to development partners to be more flexible with their terms and release funds much faster than is the case now.
“We must seek to develop and bring on aboard power with reasonable tariffs that can translate to reduced costs to end-users. Without it, Kenya would not compete in the global market. We would not attract the investment we so badly need,” he said.
Source African Press Agency
