By Maina Waruru
NAIROBI, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenya is moving to boost its solar energy capacity, with a new plant now under construction aiming to start producing electricity for the national grid by January 2016.
This heralds a shift in the balance of the country's efforts to embrace renewable energy, which have so far focused on hydropower, geothermal and a small amount of wind.
Independent power producer
Greenmillenia Energy Limited(GEL) has said it will begin generation at its 40 megawatt (MW) solar plant in Isiolo County in northern Kenya in a year's time.
"This project represents a sustainable renewable energy investment, which allows both (GEL) and the government of Kenya to take a lead in the global clean energy revolution," Bartholomew Simiyu, GEL's advisory director, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"It sends the right signal for clean energy investments in Kenya," he added.
The company has presented the required technical, environmental and financial assessments to the government, and has acquired a generating license from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Simiyu said.