Kenya, France sign $37M for power grid deal

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Turkey (AA) - In a bid to provide affordable power to all Kenyans, the East African country on Monday received a boost in its electricity sector after it signed a 33 million euro deal ($37 million) with France to add renewable power through mini-grids.

The deal was inked at State House in the Kenyan capital by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Roticih and Bruno DePrince, regional director for East Africa of the French Development Agency (AFD), in the presence of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

In a statement, the French Embassy in Kenya said, “This 33 million euro financing will support the installation of renewable energy generation units (primarily solar photovoltaic, but also in some cases wind turbines) in 23 mini-grids currently powered by diesel generators.”

The deal will be implemented by the country’s Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) and it will see 9.5 MW additional power voltage added to semi-arid northern counties in Kenya.

The French Embassy in Kenya added that the project is expected to reduce the average cost of electricity production of mini-grids by an average of 20 percent, improve the security of Kenya’s energy supply, support economic development by promoting more reliable electricity service, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the combustion of diesel immensely.

At the signing, Ayrault said, “The signing of this financing agreement shows that significant resources are indeed being made available to the states, parastatals and the private sector to support climate-friendly projects.”

He added that France is committed to provide such financial resources and announced recently that it will increase by 2 billion euros (more than 220 billion Kenyan shillings) a year its commitment to the fight against climate change in developing countries.

For his part, Kenyatta asked France for its support to secure regional peace. “We need a strong regional position that will be supported by the international community to guarantee peace in South Sudan. There is a need to do more to stabilize Somalia. This is not the time for our partners to withdraw support,” he argued.