Following the agreement reached during CoP21 in Paris in late 2015, many countries, including Kenya, committed to do more to achieve clean energy transmission. Isoaho et al. (2017) consider a clean energy transition occurring if the share of renewable energy in the power mix is growing faster than those of other energy sources. In 2016, Kenya’s total installed energy capacity stood at 2,341MW, with 63.2% of electricity already being generated using renewable energy sources, such as hydro and geothermal but other sources, such as solar or wind are gradually gaining prominence (Kenya Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, 2015; KPLC, 2016). The potential for wind generation in Kenya is considered to be one of the highest in Africa with a total of 346 W/m2, which is an equivalent of the whole country’s power requirements, yet the sources remained unexploited. (Oludhe, 2013, GoK 2013). The present (2016) contribution of wind as a source of energy is only 1.11% but it is expected to jump upwards significantly in 2018 when the Lake Turkana Wind Power project (310MW) – the biggest wind farm in Africa, capable of delivering ±15% of steady and clean energy to the national grid, will become operational (Eberhard et al., 2016; Owino et al., 2016).
Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) is a high-profile 310MW renewable energy project in Kenya initiated by the Dutch company KP&P in 2006. LTWP is located on the south-east side of Lake Turkana in Marsabit County, Kenya. It is one of the most remote, underdeveloped and poor regions of Kenya – a region that so far has been seriously neglected by the government and investors. With a budget of €620 million it is the largest private investment and one of the on-going mega projects in the country. In its nearly ten-year development phase, LTWP faced many challenges, starting from a lack of adequate political and institutional framework in Kenya at the initial stages of project development, through lack of necessary infrastructure, withdrawal of a main donor and technical issues to challenges related to timely construction of the transmission lines.
Saidur (2010) argued that there are two crucial factors enabling wind sector development, thus supporting clean energy transition: adequate infrastructure and a supportive legal framework on a national level (Saidur 2010, WB 2017). In his study, however, Saidur did not include an analysis of any of the Sub-Saharan African countries and the case of Kenya (Kazimierczuk, forthcoming) showed that other factors must have also played a role in enabling wind power development in the country. Kazimierczuk (forthcoming) argues that the development of LTWP in Kenya was a driving force for national policy and grid adjustment and upgrades rather than a result of it. Consequently, she suggests that more research is needed to look into the process of setting up the Lake Turkana Wind Power project. In particular, more attention should be given to the issues of political power and the role of political economy in the African energy transitions as brought forward by Newell and Philips (2016), Geels, (2014) and Scoones et al., (2015). Finally, Kelsall and Booth (2010: 27) have noted that recent research works on political settlements (Booth, 2015; Khan, 2004; 2005; 2010; Levy, 2014; 2015) represent useful first steps to advancing our knowledge of how different political contexts of ‘competitive clientelism’ enable or constrain political leadership (and their partners) in processes of economic development (Appiah and Abdulai, 2017).
This article aspires to be a valuable contribution to the energy transition literature, which so far has been limited in addressing “the politics of which energy sources are prioritised, by whom and why, and what this means for who secures access to energy” (Newell and Philips, 2016: 40) by investigating what were the political, economic and social factors in Kenya that played a role in setting up the biggest wind farm in Africa. It is based on extensive literature review, as well as on a number of interviews with LTWP ‘founding fathers’, management, community members and CSO representatives, as well as some government representatives involved in the project development. The interviews were conducted from June 2016 through October 2016 and in August 2017. Information used is also drawn from the review of government and LTWP documents as well as media and Internet sources when necessary.