Opinion & Analysis
Don�t rely on hydro-power
Posted Monday, July 19 2010 at 19:52
News that electricity bills are set to come down significantly next
month following the continued cutback in the country�s reliance on
expensive thermal power is no doubt a welcome relief.
The rains have been heavy and regular since the beginning of the year,
filling up the hydro-dams and enabling us to meet a large fraction of
our electricity needs from this cheaper source.
But in this relief lies the reminder of just how exposed to the
weather we continue to be in the 21st Century where technological
advancement has made it possible for man to produce power from
multiple sources.
Lying right on the equator, Kenya�s potential to produce solar power
is, for instance, thought to be enough to supply the entire eastern
African region.
But the country also bears the potential to produce thousands of
megawatts from other sources such as geothermal, biogas, as well as
from processing the heaps of waste material that sugar firms generate
every year.
Kenya also bears the distinction of having in abundance the
entrepreneurship and business skills needed to turn these potential
sources into tangible power sources.
Yet everyone who has ventured into small or medium-sized electricity
production continues to bemoan the hostile policy environment that
continues to make it hard for entrepreneurs to profit out of these
initiatives.
Because of policy bottlenecks, for instance, Western Kenya�s sugar
millers cannot invest in the potential.
The power they produce goes to the national grid at the least price in
the market.
The contract they have with power distributors makes it possible for
their supply to be suspended anytime the grid has enough supply to
meet the demand but pay heavy penalty every time they fail to meet
their quota.
Power economists may hold a different view.
Whatever the justification, paying millers at a rate that only bears
thin profit margins, while making it lucrative for emergency producers
to run in with generators in times of crisis, cannot be the best way
to secure the economy from supply shortage shocks.
It can only be hoped that power sector policy makers are thinking hard
at finding the right policy mix that will spur solar, biomass and wind
power production to help stabilise supply.
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