State-owned power producer Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has earned a cumulative 4.9 million tonnes of Carbon emissions (CO2e) credits from its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
KenGen has so far developed and registered six Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects comprising of Olkaria II geothermal expansion project, redevelopment of tana hydropower station project, and optimisation of Kiambere hydropower project, Olkaria IV geothermal project, Olkaria I units four and five, and Ngong wind.
The first KenGen project to be issued with carbon credits under the CDM initiative was the Tana hydroelectric power project which received 57,458 carbon credits, on March 13, 2020.
Last year, 2021, the company (KenGen) was cleared to sell an equivalent of 4.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions that had been earned over the last 18 months following the finalization of the verification of the issuance of a cumulative 4,617,309 tonnes of Carbon Emissions (CO2e) to its projects by the UNFCCC.
The CDM projects contribute to national sustainable development by providing clean energy which ensures improved environmental quality, positive health impacts, and increased productivity.
CDM was developed as part of the output of global concern to contribute to climate change mitigation and to foster sustainable development for non-industrialized countries.
KenGen has in recent years shifted its strategy to focus on the production of green energy and currently, more than 86 per cent of the energy produced by the company is from clean sources—wind, hydro and geothermal.
Kenya is currently Africa’s largest geothermal energy producer and among the top 10 in the world.
