By Daniel Njoroge
Nine million households have access to off-grid energy, shows a Ministry of Energy survey, as renewable energy accounts for about 70 per cent of Kenya’s installed capacity compared to the global average of 24 per cent.
The Energy Act, 2019 gives further mandate to counties to be critical entities in preserving universal access to electricity, inform county energy plans and synthesize the development and review of national energy plans.
That demonstrates the shift in the energy delivery responsibility from the national to county governments.
There is a need to take advantage of the enormous renewable energy to bring down the cost of electricity, especially in rural areas, as the country moves towards 100 per cent transition to green energy by 2020.
Counties are directly responsible for this; hence, an urgent need to build institutional capacity at that level to develop sustainable renewable energy plans….
