Kenya Developments (Installed Capacity 209MW)

Kenya is the leading Geothermal producer in East Africa and the entire African continent and Currently acting as a model for neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The East African countries led by Kenya have built the infrastructure and created a policy and and legal framework promoting investment in the sector while guaranteeing private enterprises protection from risks and an assurance of exciting return on investment (ROE).

Petroleum, hydropower and coal are the major source of commercial energy in the country. The biomass energy resource, which comprises fuel-wood and charcoal from both natural forest and plantations, accounts for 93 per cent of total energy consumption.

Petroleum is imported. The transport sector is the main consumer of petroleum products. Presently only 70 per cent of the demand for petroleum is met. There are a number of companies exploring for oil and it is now believed that natural gas which is available is to be the likely substitute for oil.
The Electricity subsector contributes about 0.6 per cent of total energy consumption. Electricity is mainly generated from hydropower - which is prone to draught effects- so some thermal power stations have been installed. There are plans to connect with neighboring countries of Zambia and Uganda to the national grid to boost the supply of electricity.
Only three quarters of the country (mainly urban areas) is connected to the national grid. It is intended that the rest of the country, including an estimated 8,200 villages should be supplied with electricity to curb deforestation. In addition there are plans to supply power to Kenya and Malawi from Tanzania.

Tanzania has per capita electricity consumption of 46/KWh per annum, which is growing at the rate of 11 - 13 per cent. Hence the government is encouraging investment to expand generating capacity, distribution system and developing indigenous sources of energy.

Uganda (450 MW) untapped geothermal energy

Of the energy generated in Uganda, traditionally 93 per cent has come from fuel wood, 6 per cent from imported petroleum and 1 per cent from electricity. 6-7 per cent of households are electrified. The corresponding number for rural households is 1-2 per cent.
There is an acute shortage of power supply in Uganda. The growing demand for electricity and the lack of public and private investments in power infrastructure projects are some of the major reasons contributing to this shortfall.  Uganda has also experienced prolonged drought coupled with increased discharges from Lake Victoria. As a result, the water level in Lake Victoria has decreased by 2 meters. Consequently, the Nalubale and Kiira hydropower plants at Jinja are now producing significantly less power than the installed capacity.

To address the power crisis, the Government of Uganda has introduced a number of measures, including load shedding and increased lease and import of thermal energy. Since expensive thermal energy is replacing cheaper hydropower, tariffs have been increased significantly. The industrial and business sectors have been hit particularly hard by these measures.
Other Government measures include loss reduction in the distribution system, energy efficiency measures, renewable energy generation projects, use of solar cells and solar water heaters, use of biogas and the construction of hydropower plants. This Sector provides lucrative potential for interested Investors.