Page 1 - Solar PV for Enhancing Electricity Access in Kenya: What Policies are Required?
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POLICY BRIEFT E R I P o l i c y B r i e f July 2015
The Energy and Resources Institute
Solar PV for Enhancing
Electricity Access in
Kenya: What Policies
are Required?
CONTENTS Introduction
• Introduction 1 Modern energy services are crucial to human well-being and to a
• Solar Energy in Kenya 2 country’s economic development; and yet globally over 1.3 billion
• Need for an Enabling Solar Policy people are without access to electricity and 2.6 billion people are
2 without clean cooking facilities. More than 95 per cent of these
for Enhancing Electricity Access 4 people are either in Sub-Saharan African or developing Asia and
• Study Approach 4 84 per cent are in rural areas (International Energy Agency, 2015).
• Solar PV Development in Kenya 5 Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in energy resources but very poor in
• Policy Recommendations 6 energy supply, making the region have highest access deficit in
• References electrification rate, only just managing to stay abreast of population
growth. Making reliable and affordable energy widely available is
Authors therefore critical to the development of the region that accounts for
Benard O. Muok 13 per cent of the world’s population but only 4 per cent of its energy
African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) demand (OECD/IEA 2014).
b.muok@acts-net.org; bmuok@yahoo.com
Willis Makokha Although investment in modern energy supply (pre-dominantly
Kenya Industrial Research and Development electricity) is on the rise, these gains are outpaced by the population
Institute (KIRDI) growth. To date, more than 620 million people still live without
Debajit Palit access to electricity and nearly 730 million people use hazardous
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India and inefficient forms of cooking, a reliance that affects women and
debajitp@teri.res.in children disproportionately (IEA 2014) as well as contributes to
environmental degradation. While the national average access to grid
power connection is estimated at 32 per cent, the rural populations
having access is only about 5 per cent (Zhou 2014).
Kenya continues to rely heavily on traditional biomass for most
of its primary energy needs. It is estimated that biomass contributes
76 per cent of its primary energy needs (DGICK 2013). The human
cost of relying on traditional biomass energy for household cooking
is well documented; newly published data from the World Health
Organization showed that 4.3 million people died in 2012 worldwide
due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases linked to household air
pollution, almost all in low and middle income countries (WHO 2014).
The Energy and Resources Institute
Solar PV for Enhancing
Electricity Access in
Kenya: What Policies
are Required?
CONTENTS Introduction
• Introduction 1 Modern energy services are crucial to human well-being and to a
• Solar Energy in Kenya 2 country’s economic development; and yet globally over 1.3 billion
• Need for an Enabling Solar Policy people are without access to electricity and 2.6 billion people are
2 without clean cooking facilities. More than 95 per cent of these
for Enhancing Electricity Access 4 people are either in Sub-Saharan African or developing Asia and
• Study Approach 4 84 per cent are in rural areas (International Energy Agency, 2015).
• Solar PV Development in Kenya 5 Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in energy resources but very poor in
• Policy Recommendations 6 energy supply, making the region have highest access deficit in
• References electrification rate, only just managing to stay abreast of population
growth. Making reliable and affordable energy widely available is
Authors therefore critical to the development of the region that accounts for
Benard O. Muok 13 per cent of the world’s population but only 4 per cent of its energy
African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) demand (OECD/IEA 2014).
b.muok@acts-net.org; bmuok@yahoo.com
Willis Makokha Although investment in modern energy supply (pre-dominantly
Kenya Industrial Research and Development electricity) is on the rise, these gains are outpaced by the population
Institute (KIRDI) growth. To date, more than 620 million people still live without
Debajit Palit access to electricity and nearly 730 million people use hazardous
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India and inefficient forms of cooking, a reliance that affects women and
debajitp@teri.res.in children disproportionately (IEA 2014) as well as contributes to
environmental degradation. While the national average access to grid
power connection is estimated at 32 per cent, the rural populations
having access is only about 5 per cent (Zhou 2014).
Kenya continues to rely heavily on traditional biomass for most
of its primary energy needs. It is estimated that biomass contributes
76 per cent of its primary energy needs (DGICK 2013). The human
cost of relying on traditional biomass energy for household cooking
is well documented; newly published data from the World Health
Organization showed that 4.3 million people died in 2012 worldwide
due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases linked to household air
pollution, almost all in low and middle income countries (WHO 2014).
