Energy is essential to meet our most basic needs that include cooking, boiling water, lighting and heating. The government of Kenya has prioritized efforts to shift the underlying pattern of energy consumption and production towards a cleaner and modern forms of energy i.e (in consideration to the increasing power demand and Vision 2030) from the current power capacity of 1600MW to 5000 MW by year 2016. Kenya government has partnered with several development parties such as Vestas Wind Systems to see construction and installation of 300 MW Lake Turkana Wind Power Project .According to Lake Turkana Power Limited, www.ltwp.co.ke , the Lake Turkana project is expected to become Africa's largest wind farm upon completion. , it aims to provide 300MW of reliable, low cost wind power to the Kenya national grid, equivalent to approximately 20% of the current installed electricity generating capacity. The Project is of significant strategic benefit to Kenya, and at Ksh70 billion (Euro 620 million) will be the largest single private investment in Kenya?s history. The wind farm site, covering 40,000 acres (162km2), is located in a sparsely populated area where there is unique geographical phenomenon with strong, predictable wind streams between the desert hinterland and Lake Turkana. UNDP energy report (2009) indicates that almost a quarter of the world's 6 billion people live without electricity .The majority of the 1.5 billion people who have no access to electricity are in the least developed countries of South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. It is estimated that only 23% of Kenya population has access to electricity (World Bank, 2010) therefore this project is ideal and sustainable towards meeting the needs of local people. Kenya is dependent on three forms of energy namely biomass that account for about 70% of the total energy consumption Petroleum 21% and Electricity 9% . Biomass sources of energy is not sustainable, further to that it has health hazards associated to it due to indoor pollution. Equitable access to energy services is critical for sustainable growth and achieving Millennium Development Goals. In the past Hydro power has constituted over 70-80 % of electricity source while other forms of renewable energy such as Geothermal, Solar and Wind remained unexploited. Learn more about Lake Turkana Wind Power Project by visiting www.ltwp.co.ke www.vestas.com
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