Kenya bets on study to resolve Gibe III power project row

Kenya, which is under pressure to develop additional energy supplies, plans a fresh environmental study to help resolve controversy surrounding the multi-billion Gibe III hydro power project in Ethiopia.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will also carry out a survey hoping to address concerns raised by various conservation groups and communities opposed to the project that is headed to become the continent’s biggest hydro-power dam, according to Energy permanent secretary Patrick Nyoike.

“We want to carry out an independent study to verify the outcomes of earlier studies so that all the concerns raised by interested parties are addressed,” Mr Nyoike told journalists on the sidelines of a regional development meeting in Nairobi.

“The EIB will also conduct another separate independent study on the project so that we have a fair process admissible by all,” he said.

The move adds impetus to Kenya’s bid to turn to its northern neighbour for additional electricity to fix an energy supply shortage that has deepened in the last three years with rapid economic growth and erratic weather.

Kenya hopes to import power from Ethiopia’s contentious and biggest hydropower project, Gibe III, with potential power generation capacity of 1800MW.

Kenya has an installed power capacity of 1,480 megawatts, including temporary emergency power.

It will require 2030 megawatts in 2014. The World Bank says the country’s power crisis is shaving 1.5 per cent off the country’s GDP in lost business opportunity besides weakening the country’s competitiveness in attracting fresh investments.

Mr Nyoike said Kenya was already in the process of identifying an international consultant to carry out the study and hoped to have a report by December.

The Ethiopian government and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have already carried out audits on the project.

Ethiopia is currently constructing a 1.4 billion euro dam as part of a strategy to tackle a biting power shortage and transform into an energy exporter to nations such as Kenya where demand continues to outstrip supply.

The mega Gibe III dam is expected to almost double Ethiopia’s current capacity.

The Ethiopian government is currently negotiating for funds with the AfDB, EIB, the World Bank and the Italian government to help finance the mega project.

The hydro dam is being constructed on the Omo River, which is the main source for Kenya’s Lake Turkana.

Several communities around the lake have rejected the project citing potential disruptions to farming and fishing in both Kenya and Ethiopia.

“This court be pleased to issue an order of prohibiting the Kenya government and Kenya Power and Lighting Company from entering into any further agreements with the government of Ethiopia relating to the proposed purchase of 500 megawatts from Gibe 111 project on Lake Turkana,” one of the conservation groups, Friends of Lake Turkana Trust, said in a court application in June while seeking to have the project banned.

They claimed that the dam would affect close to 300,000 Kenyans whose livelihoods depend on the lake.

Across the border another lobby, Survival International, also claimed that the dam would leave another 200,000 people in Ethiopia dependent on aid.

“We hope that the conclusion of the new independent environmental impact assessment studies will allow us to proceed with the project that promises to address our energy woes in the region,” Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi told the regional meeting.

“We are already in discussion with Ethiopia for possible power trade through the Gibe III hydropower project,” Mr Nyoike said.

Irrespective of the outcome of the new audits on Gibe III, Kenya still stands to benefit from dealings with Ethiopia, he said.

“Even without the disputed GibeIII phase of the project Ethiopia still has about 1,000megawatts of surplus power which we can readily tap for use in Kenya,” he said.

Feasibility study

Before its renewed focus on Ethiopia, Kenya had been looking up to interconnection with neighbouring Tanzania as a means of tapping into the Southern Africa power pool.

A feasibility study done by the Dutch Oret Programme for interconnection to the pool proposed that the line runs from a green field around Arusha to Embakasi in Nairobi.

But concerns over Tanzania’s ability to sustain a steady supply of power amid dropping water levels in its dams has lately made Kenya to change direction.

“Generally, Tanzania and other southern nations are experiencing energy problems of their own and it would not be wise to connect to their grids.... it would be foolhardy to put up systems that will stay idle with no power to run through them,” Mr Nyoike told Business Daily in a past interview.