R 241400Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9962
INFO DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 
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AMCONSUL DUBAI

UNCLAS NAIROBI 001268 
 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS USTR WILLIAM JACKSON AND PATRICK DEAN COLEMAN 
 
STATE FOR EEB/ESC DANIELLE MONOSSON, OES/EGC GRIFF THOMPSON, IO/EDA 
REBECCA WEBBER, AND OES/SAT DR. FERNANDO ECHAVARRIA 
 
STATE ALSO FOR AF/E AND AF/EPS 
 
STATE PASS USAID/EA 
 
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL AND KEVIN BOYD 
 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
ADDIS ABABA FOR REO KIRSTEN BAUMAN 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG KGHG SENV ECON ETRD EFIN KE
SUBJECT: KENYA, IRENA, AND CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVES 
 
REFS: STATE 61286 AND PREVIOUS 
 
 
¶1.  Per reftels, post informed Kenyan Ministry of Energy Senior 
Deputy Secretary for Administration Paul Ngatia on June 24 that the 
United States welcomes the formation of the International Renewal 
Energy Agency (IRENA) and is considering signing the IRENA Statute 
at the June 28-30 consultative meeting in Cairo.  We urged the 
Kenyans to join us in supporting the UAE's bid to host IRENA's HQs. 
 
¶2.  Ngatia responded that Kenya will also be an enthusiastic IRENA 
proponent and intends to ratify the organization's statute.  He said 
that a UAE delegation had recently visited Kenya and during its 
meeting with Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula lobbied for 
Kenyan support.  According to Ngatia, Kenya will join with the 
United States in promoting Abu Dhabi as the host city for IRENA's 
HQs. 
 
¶3.  Minister of Energy Kiraitu Murungi had originally planned to 
lead the Kenyan delegation, but neither he nor Permanent Secretary 
Patrick Nyoike will attend the Cairo meeting.  Instead, Assistant 
Minister and Member of Parliament Mohamed Maalim Mahamud, who is the 
former Ministry of Roads' permanent secretary and a structural 
engineer, will lead the Kenyan delegation. 
 
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Kenyan Clean Energy Initiatives 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Kenya is committed to generating power from clean sources in 
large part to wean the country off imported fossil fuels (Note: 
Kenya does not produce any oil.  It sources petroleum principally 
from the UAE.)  In early June Prime Minister Raila Odinga appointed 
a national task force to explore green energy alternatives.  In 
addition to the committee's several ministers and permanent 
secretaries, the task force includes the chairmen of the Kenya 
Private Sector Alliance and the Kenya Association of Large Power 
Producers.  In July, President Mwai Kibaki is expected to launch a 
four-year biodiesel strategy.  These initiatives follow a mid-May 
2009 decision by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) to loan a 
private group, the Lake Turkana Wind Power consortium, KSh31.4 
billion ($410 million) to construct a 300MW wind farm near Lake 
Turkana by July 2012.  The wind farm will consist of 353 wind 
turbines, each with a capacity of 850KW. 
 
¶5.  During the June 11 reading of the government's FY09 budget, 
Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta announced that KSh5.7 billion ($73 
million) would be allocated to the state-owned "Geothermal 
Development Company," charged with prospecting for hot rocks.  In 
addition, Kenyatta waived all import duties on geothermal generation 
equipment as an inducement to private companies to partner with the 
GDC.  He also revealed that Ksh500 million ($6.4 million) would be 
earmarked for the establishment of a "green energy facility," KSh400 
million ($5.12 million) for solar power generation in arid and 
semi-arid sections of the country, and another KSh200 million ($2.6 
million) to equip schools in Northeastern Province with solar 
panels.  Kenyatta told lawmakers that "to enhance the supply of 
environmentally friendly and affordable energy to our economy, the 
focus of our investments will be on development of renewal energy 
such as geothermal." 
 
Ranneberger