Renewable energy in Kenya: Resource potential and status of exploitation

Kiplagat, J.K.; Wang, Ruzhu; Li, Tingxian

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2011.03.023

Cited by 116 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The country has an average of 5 peak sunshine hours per day [69]. The mean solar radiation level per day is between 4 and 6 kWh/m 2 [69].…”

Section: Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The country has an average of 5 peak sunshine hours per day [69]. The mean solar radiation level per day is between 4 and 6 kWh/m 2 [69]. There is high solar potentials in the northeastern and the eastern part of the country, more specifically in coastal areas [70].…”

Section: Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current on-grid solar PV installation is 1.3 MW [73]. Besides that, solar energy is also used for water heating, crop and fish drying and small PV stations for electricity generation [69].…”

Section: Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A review on the recent progress made on solar photovoltaic in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa

Mas’ud

Wirba

Muhammad‐Sukki

et al. 2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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“…The country has an average of 5 peak sunshine hours per day [69]. The mean solar radiation level per day is between 4 and 6 kWh/m 2 [69].…”

Section: Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A review on the recent progress made on solar photovoltaic in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa

Mas’ud

Wirba

Muhammad‐Sukki

et al. 2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…About 90% of rural and low-income urban households use mainly firewood or charcoal [1][2][3]. Wood-based cooking fuels are renewable, often available locally, and constitute an important income opportunity, notably for poor households in rural areas [4][5][6][7][8]. However, the sourcing, production, and use of these fuels is mainly unsustainable.…”

Section: The Energy Policy Challengementioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for the Boundary Problem at Subnational Level: The Supply–Demand Balance of Biomass Cooking Fuels in Kitui County, Kenya

Bär

Ehrensperger

2018

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Abstract:In sub-Saharan Africa, the high demand for wood-based cooking fuels calls for urgent policy action to steer the cooking energy sector towards more sustainability. While the subnational scale is growing in importance for policy planning, current energy assessments still only consider individual entities without taking into account resource flows. Ignoring flows of biomass cooking fuels in supply-demand assessments is a system boundary problem that can lead to misleading policy recommendations. In this paper, we tackle the boundary problem in subnational supply-demand assessments and provide a tool to support knowledge-based decision-making on the management of biomass cooking fuels in sub-Saharan Africa. Using Kitui County as a case study, we developed and tested an approach consisting of a supply model, local demand model, balance model, availability model, and adjusted balance model. The balance model only considers local fuel supplies and demand, whereas the adjusted balance model also considers external demand, which reduces the locally available supply of fuel. The results show that fuel demand and supply are spatially heterogeneous and vary between wood-based and non-woody fuels, and that the transport distance of fuels strongly affects local fuel availability and determines whether the supply-demand balance is positive or negative. We conclude that subnational energy policies should consider geographical distribution of supply and demand, aim to increase the fuel mix, consider external demand in supply-demand assessments, and differentiate between fuels for self-consumption and the market.

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“…Looking at the current energy situation, there are still many challenges and weaknesses that affect the energy supply sector in Kenya. The main ones are: (i) low access to modern energy, especially for cooking, leading to high pressure on biomass resources; (ii) high cost of energy; (iii) energy demand increasing faster than the additional generation installation rate; (iv) high cost of rural electrification through grid extension due to the scattered nature of settlements; (v) frequent power outages and high system losses; and (vi) high dependence on imported petroleum fuels [2].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Production Analysis and Optimization of Mini-Grid in Remote Areas: The Case Study of Habaswein, Kenya

et al. 2017

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Rural electrification in remote areas of developing countries has several challenges which hinder energy access to the population. For instance, the extension of the national grid to provide electricity in these areas is largely not viable. The Kenyan Government has put a target to achieve universal energy access by the year 2020. To realize this objective, the focus of the program is being shifted to establishing off-grid power stations in rural areas. Among rural areas to be electrified is Habaswein, which is a settlement in Kenya's northeastern region without connection to the national power grid, and where Kenya Power installed a stand-alone hybrid mini-grid. Based on field observations, power generation data analysis, evaluation of the potential energy resources and simulations, this research intends to evaluate the performance of the Habaswein mini-grid and optimize the existing hybrid generation system to enhance its reliability and reduce the operation costs. The result will be a suggestion of how Kenyan rural areas could be sustainably electrified by using renewable energy based off-grid power stations. It will contribute to bridge the current research gap in this area, and it will be a vital tool to researchers, implementers and the policy makers in energy sector.

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Renewable energy in Kenya: Resource potential and status of exploitation

Cited by 116 publications

References 11 publications

A review on the recent progress made on solar photovoltaic in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa

A review on the recent progress made on solar photovoltaic in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa

Accounting for the Boundary Problem at Subnational Level: The Supply–Demand Balance of Biomass Cooking Fuels in Kitui County, Kenya

Energy Production Analysis and Optimization of Mini-Grid in Remote Areas: The Case Study of Habaswein, Kenya

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