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Feature: Rural Kenyans embrace alternative clean energy sources

Xinhua, March 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenyans in rural areas are embracing alternative clean energy sources as the hope of getting electricity fades away due to the high cost.

The use of solar and wind turbines as alternative sources of energy are putting smiles to residents in rural Kenya as local and international companies step in to ensure residents get clean energy.

"We have no electricity. The nearest electricity poll is 5 km away. It will cost us a lot of money if we try to connect our homes to power," Emily Auma, a resident in Western Kenya's Kisumu, who now uses wind turbines she bought from Access Kenya Limited (AKL), told Xinhua on Friday.

The business woman, who spent 111 U.S. dollars for the installation of wind turbines at her home, said the money can be paid in installments as long as the two parties agreed on the duration to pay the whole amount.

"I have been paying installments for one year and I have settled the bill. The energy is sustainable and environmental friendly," Auma said, adding that she has finished paying the money and is now enjoying power just like her counterparts in urban settings.

"Unlike town dwellers who must pay electricity bill monthly, I don't pay any bill. Initially I was spending up 55 U.S. dollars each month on firewood and kerosene," she said.

"Renewable energy is cheap and environment friendly. Our aim is to provide cheap and sustainable energy to low income earners across Africa," Sam Duby, director of Technology and Marketing in AKL, told Xinhua in Kiboswa, Kisumu County.

Data from the ministry of energy indicates that 85 percent of Kenyans living in rural areas do not have access to power connection due to high cost of installation put at a minimum of 385 dollars.

According to Duby, the main grid in the country reaches just 18 percent of the population. This means that an estimated 30 million people are forced to contend with the environmentally damaging and expensive alternatives like Kerosene, firewood, diesel and dry cell batteries.

AKL has been working in the country for four years now. The six- member team that came up with AKL used an initial capital of 25, 000 dollars to start the business.

"We leased this parcel of land in Kiboswa to put up a work station for designing wind turbines and generators and install them at the villages, schools and institutions within the Western Kenya region," said Duby, adding that residents like Auma are now enjoying cheap and sustainable energy sourced from both sun and wind.

Sam Slaughter, the director of WindGen Power East Africa Limited, a company that harness power from wind and Sun, said renewable energy can be used for pumping water, powering completely off-grid homes, providing power backup from on-grids and offering low-cost lighting solutions.

Slaughter's company, which is based in Nairobi, also designs water pumps. "Water pumping with solar is efficient and cost- effective. Once installed, the system requires no refueling, which saves immensely on operating costs and logistical challenges related to fuel transportation," he said.

He said increased deployment of such systems will go a long way in achieving Kenya's development goals by increasing agricultural output, decreasing carbon emissions, and increasing renewable energy penetration. Endi