Key Issues Energy Supply and Demand Gap Economic Instruments for RETS
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Working Paper April 2015 Technical overview of Renewable Energy Technologies for Rural Electrification in Kenya By Wycliffe Amakobe African Centre for Technology Studies Key issues Energy supply and demand gap Economic instruments for RETS Demand for both commercial and non-commercial Private sector investment in renewable energy is energy exceeds supply especially during peak pragmatic if the goal of enhancing energy access periods. In 2010, only 18 per cent of households had to all is to be realized as spelled out in Energy access to electricity. As at June 2014, interconnected Act 2006 No. 12. of 2006. Potential investors systems had total installed capacity of 1,741 MW out view the feed-in tariff revised in 2012 as non- of which 812 MW was hydro, 646 MW thermal, attractive. 251.8 MW geothermal, 2MW solar PV, 5.1 MW Subsidy wind and 26MW from cogeneration. Heavy subsidies associated with fossil fuels Diversifying energy mix result into competitive advantage against Kenya’s overreliance on hydro as the main source of renewable energy technologies power places the country at high risk given the shifts Energy in equality and Indoor Air Pollution in weather and climate patterns. Focus is now turning to geothermal alone other than all renewable. Approximately 1.3 billion people (globally) and 33.4 million (in Kenya) are without access to Policy streamlining and enforcement modern energy. The unequal access triggers a A number of regulations lack congruence among sense of social inequality and marginalization. energy related ministries. Further, lack of World Health Organization estimates that over enforcement of existing energy regulations 2.3 million people die globally as a result of demonstrates lack of goodwill. indoor air pollution annually. Paper under per review! 1. Introduction Rural off-grid electrification is increasingly becoming important as scarcity in oil resource base continues to be experienced. At least 1.3 billion people lack access to modern forms of energy globally. World energy outlook estimated in 2011 that only 30% of population in Africa had access to electricity during 2011 with 2.7 billion using traditional 3-stone stoves. In Kenya, the population of people without access to electricity was 33 million (IEA, 2011). This has thus resulted into inequity and wide spread energy poverty constraining development mainly in rural areas. Comparing this with electrification levels in Northern Africa countries such as Morocco (97%), Algeria (99%), Tunisia (100%), Egypt (100%) and Libya (100%), there is an urgent need for Kenya to step up her efforts towards narrowing energy access gap. Renewable energy and small-scale off-grid systems have the potential to contribute substantially to environmental conservation and increased access to electricity. Access to energy enables development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) especially for people at the base of pyramid. This has the potential to unlock development in these areas and prompt structural changes for poverty alleviation. For instance, the lack of access to modern energy contributes to over 30% losses in agricultural production in Kenya. However, the realization of 100% electrification particularly in rural areas need testing of specific technologies through appropriate delivery models. For example, spurring rural electrification using pico-hydro in one area may be unsuitable for another area, where as the same technology may be very relevant in the other. Thus, this paper highlights available renewable energy resources and their potential of exploitation in Kenya. The paper presents a technical overview of available renewable energy technologies (RETs), prospection, challenges, and opportunities with an overview of energy policy in Kenya. 2. Status of energy demand and supply The energy consumption and supply patterns in Kenya are mainly influenced by income, intended use, social setup, and awareness about a specific technology. In Kenya, energy resources comprise of commercial and non-commercial. Commercial energy mainly comprise of petroleum products and electricity, while non-commercial comprise of biomass, and to a lesser extent solar energy, wind power, and biogas. Demand for both commercial and non-commercial energy exceeds supply especially during peak periods. Electricity supply in particular becomes unpredictable during dry seasons when dam levels reduce prompting power outages. In 2010, only 18 per cent of households had access to electricity. The power supply consists of the national interconnected system and several mini-grids serving areas located far from the national grid. As at June 2013, interconnected system had total installed capacity of 1,741 MW out of which 812 MW was hydro, 646 MW thermal, 251.8 MW geothermal, 5.1 MW wind and 26MW Page 2 of 22 from cogeneration(KIVA,2013). Access to electricity in rural households is estimated at about 4 per cent, while the commercial and industrial sectors together account for roughly 60 per cent of the electricity consumed in the country. The lack of an effective transmission system is a hurdle to access and reliability. Over 90% of households in rural areas use unsustainable biomass combusting cook stoves that are linked to myriads of illnesses because of indoor air pollution and uneconomical fuel consumption. In terms of lighting, kerosene tin lamps are the most commonly used source of lighting mainly in the evening for dinner and study for households with school-going children. With increasing advocacy about modern energy, things are expected to change. Figure 1:Electricity grid coverage and mini grids 3. Rural electrification at a glance Rural electrification can be enhanced through several forms. This can be in form of individual household systems, grid extension, community mini-grids, multifunctional platforms, and village charging stations. The government of Kenya has been investing in rural electrification since 1973. This is demonstrated by establishment of Rural Electrification Authority (REA) in 2006 through the Energy Act 2006, No. 12 of 2006 that became operational in July 2007. The Page 3 of 22 authority was tasked with accelerating rural electrification in the country. The government is committed to ensuring connectivity of 66% in 2022 through the vision 2030 blue print. REA is working towards this by grid extension, off-grid supply, and isolated diesel hybrid stations, installation of solar PV, wind, and biogas systems. With the devolved system of governance, the county governments are charged with the role of; a) Preparation and update of the county and national rural electrification master plans b) Planning and implementation of county specific grid connected rural electrification projects c) Planning and implementation of cross-county grid extension projects d) Mobilization of financial resources for rural electrification in the counties e) Promotion and development of renewable energy in the counties f) Development of isolated power stations g) Capacity building and standardization of project implementation Through the Rural Electrification Master Plan, REA purposes to use off-grid systems to electrify 330 public facilities and serve 66,000 connections in approximately 200 localities (IIED,2012). There is a huge gap to be filled in rural areas as the main form of electrification has been through on-grid access. Diversification of electrification technologies is necessary. Appropriate delivery models and customization of existing technologies is an impending challenge but a necessary factor to be offset if tangible outcomes are to be realized in terms of acceptance. 4. Technologies 5.1. Solar energy technologies Kenya receives 4 – 6 KWh per square meter of insolation per day. This is equivalent to 250 Mtoe per day. Despite this potential, only a small portion is harnessed and converted into utilizable forms. Solar energy technologies prove to be the most convenient low carbon technologies that communities could strive for meeting their cooking and lighting requirements alongside a myriad of energy demands at farm and industrial levels. The energy is mainly harnessed through three key technologies that use semiconductors (solar cells) to convert solar irradiance directly into electricity. An interconnection of solar cells forms a PV module or concentrating solar power (CSP) systems that can range from 10watts to 200watts. In its isolated state, PV module cannot meet end user’s ultimate requirements. As such, modules are combined with a set of additional components such as batteries, inverters, and mounting systems. The three types of solar cells used in module fabrication include mono-crystalline cells which are the most efficient, polycrystalline cells with medium efficiency and thin-film cells that are rather cheap but least efficient. Systems can be very small, such as in calculators, up to utility‐scale power Page 4 of 22 generation facilities. The ability of PV modules to incept power from diffuse sources in addition to the direct insolation makes them preferable compared to CSP. However, CSPs have higher efficiencies than PV. Concentrating solar thermal power and solar fuel technologies produce electricity and possibly other energy carriers (“fuels”) by concentrating solar radiation to heat various materials to high temperatures. A concentrating solar power (CSP) comprises a field of solar collectors, receivers, and a power block, where the heat collected in the solar field is transformed into mechanical energy, then electricity. In between, the system must include