{"id":1385,"date":"2017-10-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/uncategorized\/1385\/africas-largest-wind-farm-will-reduce-reliance-on-fossil-fuels-in-kenya\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T08:22:56","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:22:56","slug":"africas-largest-wind-farm-will-reduce-reliance-on-fossil-fuels-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/press\/1385\/africas-largest-wind-farm-will-reduce-reliance-on-fossil-fuels-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa’s largest Wind farm will reduce reliance on fossil fuels in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nairobi, 11th October, 2017: Kenya has doubled its efforts to take up renewable energy by building an epic wind farm. Lake Turkana wind power project becomes the largest wind farm in Africa with a capacity of 310 megawatts \u2013 enough to power up to one million homes.Reacting to this news, Greenpeace Africa\u2019s Executive Director Njeri Kabeberi has said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe salute the commitment of the Kenyan government to transitioning from fossils fuels towards renewable energy. This is a good step toward sustainable development not only in Kenya but also in Africa. The government must now hasten up the installation of \u00a0transmission lines as current delays in the process means homes and businesses still have to to dig deep into their pockets to pay Sh 5.7 billion surcharge through their power bills\u201d.<\/p>\n


\n<\/span>Wind power now accounts for only 1% of what the Kenyan economy consumes.\u00a0 At 310 megawatts, the Turkana \u00a0plant will account for 13% of Kenya\u2019s total power capacity. The potential of wind power in terms of reducing carbon emissions is significant. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, in 2016 wind power helped the planet avoid more than 637 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time for Kenya to kick start a thriving renewable energy market that will help remove all the barriers to clean energy expansion. Kenya\u2019s government should inject more resources into such projects to enable them come on board on time. This will enable consumers to benefit from affordable clean renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also urge Kenya\u2019s government to stop the proposed Lamu and Kitui coal projects and increase its uptake of renewable energy. Coal is dirty and highly polluting. The climate change costs of coal will only increase in the coming years while innovation is driving the price of renewables down\u201d, continued Kabeberi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more opportunities in the renewable energy industry in Kenya, in fact there is a growing global trend to shift away from fossil fuels and to renewable energy. It is essential that Kenya continues to \u00a0follow this trend to ensure that it is not left behind in the global economy\u201d, concluded Kabeberi.<\/p>\n

Notes to the Editor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greenpeace\u2019s energy blueprint for a sustainable future and green development \u00a0can be downloaded here<\/a><\/p>\n

Renewable Energy Myths<\/a>, busted!<\/p>\n

Media Contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n

hdena@greenpeace.org