The East African nation of Kenya is reportedly set to gain from the 80 million Euros (around 10.2 billion Kenyan Shillings) funding provided by the investment part of the European Union (EU) to aid in the increasing of production for Geothermal power.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) which is the investment side of the European Union (EU) on the 17th of July 2021, approved the funding which will be targeting all geothermal power projects in East Africa that are backed by the private sector.
The fund by the European Investment Bank (EIB) will be beneficial to Kenya as well as 17 more countries which include Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.
According to the European Investment Bank (EIB), “Eligible projects will typically include greenfield development and brownfield expansions, with proven geothermal resources.”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) stated that, “Investments in geothermal energy will help diversify baseload renewable electricity supply in the region and contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil-fuel based alternatives.”
The money is a part of the global 4.1 billion Euros (around 522 billion Kenyan Shillings) which the European Union’s investment arm; the European Investment Bank (EIB), has set aside for the private sector with regards to speeding up investments into renewable energy.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) funding servers is being seen by observers as a boost to Kenya which is actively looking to an additional reduction of the portion of the rather expensive geothermal power in the national grid via the increment of the hydropower sources, the wind sources, and the geothermal sources.
Data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) revealed that geothermal is right now, the leading contributor of power to Kenya’s national grid. It reportedly makes up 44.12 percent of the national grid. Hydropower comes in second at 26.98 percent of the national grid, with Thermal coming in at less than 13 percent of the national grid.
This is significantly different from what was the case in 2014 when thermal’s share on the national grid was at a high of 34.49 percent. This was as a result of the inconsistent rains that led to a subsequent reduction in the available sources of hydropower.
Since 1976 the European Investment Bank (EIB) has worked with the East African nation of Kenya and supported different projects which include the Lake Turkana Wind Farm and the Olkaria geothermal plants.
Information on the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s official website revealed that the bank has so far spent a total of 1.534 billion Euros (which is around 195.54 billion Kenyan Shillings) on a number of projects in various sectors in Kenya including Health, Agriculture, and Energy.
The projects which have had the involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Kenya with regards to the Energy sector include the Kenya Power grid development, Olkaria geothermal plants, and of course the Lake Turkana Wind Farm. Those three (3) projects account for 49 percent or 95.1 billion Kenyan Shillings of the total funding that has been provided so far.
In 2020 alone, the European Investment Bank (EIB) spent a total of 96 million Euros (12.23 billion Kenyan Shillings) on three (3) projects in the East African nation of Kenya along with 3.1 billion Kenyan Shillings for the Kenya Agriculture Value Chain facility.
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