Kenya has revealed Africa’s biggest wind power project so far, with the aim of increasing its generation capacity and approaching its aim of powering the country entirely by renewable energy by the end of next year.
The $775-million Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project will increase Kenya’s electricity generating capacity by 13% and provide up to 310 megawatts’ power for the grid.
At the project’s launch on Friday, July 19, President Uhuru Kenyatta said:
“Today, we again raised the bar for the continent as we unveil Africa’s single largest wind farm. Kenya is without doubt on course to be a global leader in renewable energy.”
He also said that the additional power from the new wind farm would aid the government in its commitment to providing all the country’s citizens with food security, employment, housing, and healthcare.
While wind power has become increasingly popular in Europe thanks to progressive improvements in areas like scale and lubricants, such as those from Mobil stockists, most African countries have been somewhat slower to adopt renewable energy generation. Kenya, however, has progressed rapidly in renewable energy generation and now meets 70% of its power needs with renewable energy, including geothermal and hydropower.
Kenya’s power infrastructure is still a work in progress, however, with a quarter of people, mostly outside urban areas, still lacking a connection to the power grid. Even those with access have to deal with an unreliable electricity supply, but the new wind farm may help alleviate this problem.
