Only 17% of Kenyans are connected to the national electricity grid whilst Kenya faces a shortage of generation capacity. Accelerating the development of Kenya’s geothermal power capacity is a vital enabling action for meeting Kenya’s development ambitions to become a newly industrializing, middle-income country by 2030. Geothermal energy has been identified as the single most promising technology to keep the power sector on a low-carbon development pathway, and is a priority mitigation action in the Kenyan National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP).

In response to this opportunity, the Government of Kenya has developed an ambitious Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) proposal which has been submitted to the UNFCCC registry. The NAMA has the objective of up-scaling private involvement (capital and actors) in the geothermal sector, which is needed if Kenya is to reach its ambitious geothermal development goals. The NAMA encompasses on-going efforts from the Government of Kenya and development partners, and seeks further support for four components that will improve the business case for the private sector: financial risk mitigation instruments; a premium payment mechanism; a Technical Assistance Facility; and a National Geothermal Capacity Building Programme.

This project supported the Kenyan Government to take the NAMA from a fully developed concept to implementation. The focus was threefold:

• To provide bottom-up assistance to operationalise the NAMA and secure financing to pilot the new instruments.
• To create awareness amongst key stakeholders in Kenya and regionally about NAMA development and disseminate lessons learnt internationally.
• To draw up a roadmap for future implementation support moving into 2015 and 2016.

The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) has provided the technical assistance to the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (MEWNR) and Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP). The work was a continuation of ECN’s previous assistance to the government to develop the NAMA concept under the Mitigation Momentum project.

After successfully gaining finance, the NAMA has made a significant contribution towards the availability of reliable, cost effective and low carbon electricity for Kenyans.

Additional Information:

-       Mitigation Momentum flyer on geothermal NAMA case study

Read the Inside Story on lessons learnt from Kenya's Geothermal Nama.

Funding: £124 000

Timeframe: 1st May – 31st December 2014 (8 months)