The great rift valley running through the heart of Kenya spans 6,400 kilometers from Jordan to Mozambique. Below its surface, water effortlessly seeps through, encountering heated rocks situated 1-3 kilometers beneath the earth’s crust. This interaction yields a combination of superheated water and steam, constituting 75% and 25%, respectively, with temperatures averaging 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressures reaching 1,000 PSI. Remarkably, these conditions prove optimal for harnessing geothermal energy.

In the 21st century, particularly in the past few years, Kenya has begun to harness this geological advantage to become a global powerhouse in clean energy. With a total geothermal power capacity of 988.7MW, of which 799MW stems from the Great Rift Valley, Kenya is the 6th largest producer of geothermal energy worldwide. According to KenGen, there is potential for this capacity to rise to 10,000MW, with a view to Kenya being powered entirely by renewable energy by 2030.

What Does This Mean for the World?

In a declaration by Kenyan President William Ruto, who is leading the campaign for the country’s shift from fossil fuel reliance, he claimed that: “Despite Africa having an estimated 40% of the world’s renewable energy resources, only $60bn or 2% of $3tn renewable energy investments in the last decade have come to Africa.”

Increases in foreign aid investments could be mutually beneficial for both Kenya and Western nations. If foreign aid budgets increased in focus on expanding upon Africa’s renewable energy infrastructure, for example, by helping to expand operations in Kenya, this could potentially provide a solution to the West’s continued reliance on fossil fuels and give a boost to the West’s efforts in fighting the climate crisis through trade alliances with African nations.

What Does This Mean for Kenya and Africa as a Whole?

A substantial economic boost could be anticipated with increased foreign aid investment into renewable energy infrastructure projects in Africa. Infrastructure projects will likely require a significant uptake in local workers to assist with building power plants and wellheads, providing local people with new employment opportunities and the prospect of newfound wealth in the region.

The potential transformation of Africa’s power grid through these investments also cannot be understated: “According to the U.N., more than half of the sub-Saharan population does not have access to power, making it the lowest region due to the lack of a grid that distributes power to consumers. Large African economies like Nigeria and South Africa rely heavily on fossil fuels to supply their booming population.”

For decades, Africa’s troubles with poor power grid infrastructure have constrained the continent’s capacity for economic growth. Manufacturing, infrastructure and retail sites cannot operate without a sufficient and reliable power supply. Therefore, the economic boost these developments could provide is unequivocally huge, as well as the employment opportunities that are so desperately needed.

Kenya’s geothermal operations already provide enough to power approximately 3,800,000 homes through state and private commercial projects. It is, therefore, relatively simple to imagine the extraordinary impact further investment from Western states could have on alleviating millions of Kenyans and Africans across the continent out of poverty.

– Ethan Leyden
Photo: Flickr