Kenya is one of the nine African countries that will form a consortium to lead the world in developing battery storage solutions to tap more renewable energy.
The countries will help develop innovative battery storage under the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Consortium as the world scales efforts to tap more of its vast wind and solar energy potential.
Kenya is home to the largest wind power firm in Africa, the 300-megawatt Lake Turkana Wind Power, and has also stepped up generation from solar sources, highlighting why it will play a leading role in the consortium.
Solar and wind energy sources are intermittent. Therefore, battery storage systems are critical in helping maximise the potential of renewable sources.
The World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Agence Française de Développement, Africa50 and the Abu Dhabi-owned clean energy giant Masdar are funding the consortium.
“Joining the BESS Consortium, commits members to participate in efforts to reach energy storage commitments of five gigawatts (GW) through the end of 2024,” says AfDB of the deal signed last month.
“This will, in turn, provide a roadmap to ultimately achieving 400GW of renewable energy by 2030.”
The need for enhanced battery storage solutions has been amplified over the years as countries shift more to clean energy. Quality battery storage provides a solution to achieve flexibility, enhance grid reliability and power quality and scale up renewable energy, reducing the impact of adverse weather patterns.
The storage facilities will, for example, allow countries to maximise solar energy, even at night or wind power when the wind is not strong enough to turn the turbines and generate electricity, significantly reducing the chances of power outages linked to generation.
Besides the Lake Turkana wind farm, the State-owned KenGen is set to build a 200-megawatt wind plant.
