NAIROBI, June 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Scores of Kenyans on Wednesday
protested a project to build a coal power station near the Lamu archipelago,
a popular tourist spot that includes a UNESCO World Heritage site and vibrant
marine life.
The power station, which has been in the planning stages for about six
years, has faced fierce resistance from activists and local communities, and
the National Environmental Tribunal is to rule on June 24 on the fate of the
project.
A group of about 200 protesters carrying black coffins emblazoned with
white skulls, as well as a miniature chimney spewing smoke, marched through
downtown Nairobi on Wednesday chanting “coal is poisonous!”
“There is no need to build centralised dirty sources of energy such as coal
to answer Kenya’s energy demands, especially when the country is taking the
lead in Africa with an 85-percent renewable energy base,” said deCOALonize
Campaign Coordinator, Omar Elmawi.
“With access to wind, solar, geo-thermal and tidal energy sources, Kenya’s
renewable energy potential is cost-efficient and causes no harm to the people
and environment.”
Campaigners argue the project is a costly and damaging venture that makes
little sense at a time when most of the world is turning away from coal
plants and investing in increasingly cheaper renewable energies.
“Countries are divesting away from coal and even China is moving away from
coal investment towards renewable energy,” Greenpeace representative Fredrick
Njehu told AFP.
However the government sees it as a way to spur economic growth, create
jobs, and ensure Kenya’s energy supply in the future.
– ‘Costly error’ –
Experts have raised serious concerns about the project.
The US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
this week released a report warning that due to a series of miscalculations,
electricity from the plant will cost consumers 10 times more than estimated.
The report entitled “The Wrong Choice For Kenya” said the 981-megawatt
facility would be a “costly error” for the country, with the 25-year contract
requiring payment of $360 million annually even if no power is generated at
the plant.
It says that Kenya’s energy demand growth has been much lower than
estimated, due to lower than expected economic growth, and that if built the
plant would be “grossly underutilised”.
“The government’s own analysis demonstrates that… Kenya’s abundant
renewable resources render no new coal generation necessary in the country
until 2029, at the earliest”.
The bulk of the $2 billion project is being financed by China and it will
be built by Amu Power, a joint venture between a Kenyan firm and Gulf Energy.
Construction will be carried out by China Power Global.
It will be the first coal-fired power station in East Africa, and will
import coal from South Africa until Kenya begins mining operations its own
mining operations.