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Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) has received carbon credits from its Olkaria I, Units 4 and 5 Geothermal Power plant further solidifying the company’s lead in climate action in Africa.
This follows the issuance of an additional 2,040,515 Carbon Emission Reductions (CERs) for the Naivasha based project by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This brings the amount of carbon credits issued to KenGen to date to 2,591,496 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e) valued at USD.3,887,244 which are now available for sale. The sale process of the carbon credits has been initiated as guided by the applicable disposal laws and regulations for the public sector organizations.
The 140MW Olkaria I Additional Units 4 and 5 power plant, will reduce CO2 emission through the displacement of electricity generated by fossil fuel fired power plants connected to the national grid.
Announcing the issuance of the CERs, KenGen Managing Director and CEO, Mrs. Rebecca Miano said the UNFCCC’s issuance of the carbon credits is an affirmation of KenGen’s commitment to address climate change which is one of the biggest global environmental challenges currently.
“KenGen has set up a dedicated team that is spearheading environmental sustainability to help combat climate change. So far, we have developed and registered six (6) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Projects comprising of Olkaria II Geothermal Expansion Project, Redevelopment of Tana Hydro Power Station Project, Optimisation of Kiambere Hydro Power Project, Olkaria IV Geothermal Project, Olkaria I Units 4 and 5 Geothermal Project and Ngong Wind.”
Mrs. Miano went on to say: “These projects together contribute to offsetting approximately 1.5 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (C02) equivalent annually.”
“The Olkaria IV Plant is currently undergoing a review process, which could see the issuance of an additional 2,025,813 CERs in the near future,” She added.
At the same time, KenGen which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), is poised to earn about Ksh.119 million from the 550,981 carbon credits that were issued as at July 2021.
The CDM projects contribute to national sustainable development by providing clean energy which ensures improved environmental quality, positive health impacts and increased productivity. CDM was developed as part of the output of a global concern to contribute to climate change mitigation and to foster sustainable development for non-industrialized countries.
KenGen has deliberately shifted its strategy to focus on the production of green energy and currently more than 86% of the energy produced by the Company is from clean sources namely wind, hydro and geothermal.
Thanks to KenGen’s efforts, Kenya is today Africa’s largest geothermal energy producer and among the top 10 in the world. The country has an estimated potential of 10,000MW of geothermal along the Rift Valley.
As a way of enhancing its portfolio of climate change mitigation projects, the Company intends to incorporate additional geothermal, wind and solar projects which will further reduce carbon emissions annually, in the process reducing the impact of climate change on the environment.