Overhaul Kenya’s power generation plan.

In the previous week there was a private sector advert for feasibility consultancy for a natural gas power plant in Lamu County, an indication that prospects for a commercial discovery of natural gas are high.

Can the discovery confirmation be accelerated so that the planned LNG plant is located nearer Lamu instead of Mombasa? This way the fuel feed can be “local” natural gas and not imported LNG.

Further, can we still retain the imported coal plant at Lamu when prospects of natural gas commercial discoveries in the same area are high?

What will be the impact of imported coal generation — and LNG generation at Mombasa — on excess carried capacity charges when priority geothermal is accelerated?

The above are just a few pertinent questions about power generation options and decision making.

In 2013, an ambitious “5000 megawatt(MW) by 2016” power generation plan was launched and it was anchored in least cost generation options.

The plan has so far delivered increased geothermal generation to about 47 per cent of national share, and 300MW of wind generation, which is still stranded and not connected.

Most of the other projects in the 2013 plan have not been implemented.

These MW increases are inadequate to cushion the country against fluctuating hydro power generation whose shortfall automatically translates to more use of expensive thermal generation. Read the full article here