Renewable Energy A Pillar Of Kenyan Growth And Development

Renewable Energy: A Pillar of Kenyan Growth and Development MCR 601: Intelligence and the Global Strategic Environment LCDR Savery Introduction Although sluggish global growth will moderate growth forecasts, Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) stands out with year over year increases in GDP growth reaching 4.7% in 2013. One country that is leading the way as East-Africa s largest economy and SSA s ninth largest economy is Kenya, which has seen economic growth at 5.7% in 2013 a full percentage point above the SSA average. Kenya s economic targets for growth are as high as 10% under what is called Kenya s Vision 2030 development initiative. This economic growth target is part of an ambitious development blueprint, Vision†¦show more content†¦Additionally, difficulty is likely to be encountered in achieving developmental goals as Kenya has for a long time fallen victim to plundering of national assets whose development and broad distribution are essential for economic growth and prosperity. In this way, the newly discovered natural resources could threaten the success of Kenya s developmental goals. Neverthele ss, renewable energy will play a significant role as the driver of Kenyan economic growth and improvements to the standard of living and furnish Kenya with the large scale supplies of electricity needed of Vision 2030 s flagship projects. Discussion Kenya plans to make renewable energy its largest source of total installed electrical power capacity by 2020, driven largely by geothermal energy found in Kenya s Rift Valley. Estimates by Kenya s Energy Ministry indicate that Kenya s Rift Valley in Hell s Gate National Park contains as much as 10,000MW in total energy capacity alone, nearly seven times Kenya s current total energy consumption. To demonstrate Kenya s commitment to its Vision 2030 energy goals, Geothermic Development Corporation (GDC) began production in April 2014 of the world s largest geothermal energy production facility (810MW) at Menengai, in the central Rift Valley. Once complete, this single project will increase Kenya s total electrical generation capacity by 50% and decrease Kenya s