Kenya to continue investment in coal power electricity for industrialization

Kenya will continue to invest in the generation of electricity from coal power using more advanced technologies, a government official said on Thursday.
Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said the government plans to build the Lamu Power Plant with the construction of the coal plant expected to begin in 2024.

He said the coal plant would enable Kenya to have reliable and stable source of energy to drive economic growth in line with Kenya's Vision 2030.

The Lamu Coal Power Plant is expected to become the main base-load power source to drive the manufacturing sector, part of the government's Big Four Agenda, which aims to raise the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the economy and to create more jobs, the official said.

The plant is expected to inject 1,000 MW of electric power to add to the current capacity of 2,712 MW against the country's industrial power need of 5,000 MW.
According to the government spokesperson, Kenya also relies on geothermal as a source of power although it takes at least seven years to complete a single geothermal station compared to the 30 months required to complete a single coal power station.

"We want to be in the league of developed countries. The only way to industrialize is to use coal. There are other countries which are industrialized but depend on coal produced from other countries," Oguna said.

The coal power plant to be located at the coastal region of Lamu, is expected to begin operations in 2027.