Kenya Energy

With first production due to begin next year at Kenya’s newly developed oilfields in the north, plans are under way to put in place the necessary transport infrastructure to ship the country’s crude to the eastern coast.

Efforts to add more than 5000 MW of electricity generation capacity in Kenya – part of a push to improve electrification rates to 70% of households by 2017 – are leading to a jump in renewable projects, as well as cuts in end-user tariffs.

In a move to tap into its vast geothermal energy resources, Kenya recently invited bids for the construction of two new power plants, representing another step forward in its 2017 target to boost electricity production by 5000MW.

Kenya’s run of geologic luck continues, following the announcement of the country’s fourth consecutive discovery of oil by the UK's Tullow Oil and Canada's Africa Oil. Similarly, while activity in the natural gas sector is proceeding at a slower pace, following the recent departure of one explorer, the outlook for new finds is promising.