By The Plu Correspondent
Garissa will soon host East Africa’s largest solar power plant through a government initiative that will transform the ailing energy sector that has been synonymous with relentless rationing and perpetual blackouts.
Kenya’s Rural Electricity Authority (REA) said the plant once switched on will lit more than 625,000 homes, costing the government a whooping Sh. 12.8 billion.
“We are going heavy on renewable energy for faster electrification of off-grid areas and households,” REA chairman Simon Gicharu said at a press briefing in Nairobi.
The power plant will be constructed by China Jiangxi using a loan from China’s Exim Bank and it is expected to take about a year before it is completed.
Groundwork and project inception is expected to start this July with a target of providing 55-megawatt (MW) of power, helping Garissa to save millions of shillings through affordable and effective power connection. It will also save Garissa from thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
REA said power from the solar plant will be injected into the national grid as part of a plan to reduce the county off its dependence on costly thermal electricity.
Families in Garissa may pay as low as Sh12 ($0.12) per unit of solar power, far much affordable than diesel-generated power.
Experts say such a move would have regional implications in the energy sector, including fall of energy and electricity production costs that will help address the current power crisis in the town.
If the dreams of its architects are realized, the resulting energy will eventually be exported to other neighboring counties, as well as providing a secure source of energy at home.
