Decentralized Energy Systems in Kenya

When the oil prices escalated and electricity bills went up, everyone sought to give a solution to the energy crisis then. Apparently, things are now ok and nobody seems bothered by the possibility of a similar crisis in the near future. If we are to realize the objectives set out in the vision 2030 proposal, our current centralized electricity system that dominates the developed world needs an overhaul. This is mainly because it is the embodiment of technological inertia, performing little better today than it did in the 1970s.

Even when the government discuses issues to do with our future energy demands, there is little or no consideration to an issue that is key to our rising emissions – the huge wastage inherent in the centralized electricity system. Almost two thirds of the electricity generated from centralized large power plants far away from our urban centers is wasted – partly from the wires that transmit the electricity around the country, but mostly in the form of waste heat from the power stations themselves. In the face of climate change that is partly to blame for the food shortage in the country, such wastage is indefensible.

There is an urgent need to reform the current centralized energy system so as to put an end to this environmentally destructive wastage. There could be very significant reduction in electricity wastage and emissions by remodeling our electricity system around a decentralized pathway, where energy is produced close to where it is consumed.

In decentralize energy systems, buildings (both residential, office and industrial units) double up as power stations because they have within them one or more energy generating technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines or cogeneration units. This has a great local impact that can be enormously be enhanced on a cumulative scale.

There could also be local networks that distribute power produced by supplementary community-scale plants that generate close to the point of demand. This improves efficiency and thereby reducing the overall demand and increasing security of supply.

Decentralized energy system has several benefits

Decentralizing the Kenyan electricity system is the best way to avoid future problems of having to deal with huge environmentally harmful emissions as is the case in most developed nations. By establishing a efficient infrastructure and a good regulatory regime which encourages renewable and other low-emission technologies, a decentralized model could ensure minimal contribution of our electricity system to the environmental problems.

In the long run, a decentralized system may also prove cheaper, cutting the need for investment in hugely expensive high voltage transmission networks. This is through encouraging development of local transmission networks and also investment in renewable technologies.

By boosting the market for renewable generation and related technologies, it would also stimulate innovation. Home owners and students in schools and colleges could come up with custom-made solutions suitable to their needs. This is similar to the great innovative developments that have been realized through the integration of ICT knowledge in our education systems and homes.

It would deliver an electricity supply far less vulnerable to massive system failure as a result of sabotage or system failure as the one experienced last year. Furthermore, incase of system failure, it becomes easier to troubleshoot and fix the problem on the small scale that in the case of large centralized system.

Decentralizing energy would also democratize energy, providing real opportunities for local political leadership on climate change, and curbing the influence of the centralized industry’s powerful vested interests. By enabling local action and empowering individuals and communities as producers, decentralization has the potential to bring about a massive cultural change in our attitude to and use of energy.

A decentralized energy system could revolutionize the lives of many Kenyans who currently lack access to basic energy services. Decentralized energy is highly flexible, allowing solutions to be tailored to local conditions and be installed much faster than a centralized system.

The centralized system severely limits the way in which electricity is generated and delivered. This is characterized by the monopoly experienced by the Kenya power and lighting company. We do not have any choice but to but electricity from them. Decentralized energy, however, offers a genuine alternative but is largely excluded from the market place due to protectionism, short-sighted and inappropriate regulations and failures in cost and benefit allocation.

This raises questions on the government’s commitment, through the energy regulatory board to meet the targets set out in the vision 2030 objectives. The use of solar solutions in rural areas and in schools in North Eastern province illustrates the government’s fractured approach since these solutions are plastered over a fundamentally faulty system.

The energy Regulation Board together with Rural Electrification authority should take bold steps and be given an explicit obligation to deliver a fully sustainable energy system in line with realization of the vision 2030. This could be through reforms that promote meaningful competition and support and stimulate technological advances.

Investors in the major towns putting up new buildings could be required to incorporate decentralized energy technologies. This would steadily cut emissions from the building stock and enable the retirement of power stations, while also transforming the economics of decentralized energy by creating economies of scale and cutting installation costs.

Local governments could become key players in moving to sustainable energy systems. There should be area-based environmental conservation targets, along with a statutory requirement for all councils to develop an energy strategy.

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company could also be required to purchase surplus electricity from domestic power generators, at rates that will ensure the take-off of domestic generation. This can be adjusted in reference to the purchase price from KENGEN and other Independent Power Producers.