Energy Development plans in the Kenyan Counties: Highlights from the Transforming Energy Access workshop

By Victoria Chengo – Research Assistant, CRE programme

On 10th – 11th April 2018, the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) stakeholder workshop was held in Kisumu. It was organized by the African centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) in collaboration with the UK-based Low Carbon for Development Network (LCEDN), and the National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND)-Kenya. The theme of the workshop was ‘Capacity Building for Energy Governance’ and aimed to assess the challenges and opportunities for capacity building engagements and to inform on energy governance at the county level.

This blog post outlines the progress and the necessary measures required to support the capacities of counties to strengthen their energy development plans for sustainability, guided by the outcomes of the workshop.

Dr Ed Brown (LCEDN) making a presentation at the TEA workshop

 

The transition to Renewable Energy

The transition to renewable energy has become a revolutionary force and a moral imperative of our generation, and it might just be the most powerful force to foster the economic development the world so much aims to achieve. It is safe to say that the sovereignty and self-reliance of a nation is highly dependent on its sovereignty in energy, and in today’s world, renewable energy. Thus, access to sustainable and clean energy is the pivotal element in the economic stability of every country in the world, as stipulated in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 which emphasizes on the need to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, coupled with the targets of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change towards which countries are striving to achieve by undertaking ambitious mitigation contributions, known as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Kenya, just like any other developing country, has its share of challenges in the energy sector that inhibit sustainable development and economic growth; over dependency in wood fuel remains to be the greatest challenge. This necessitates the need to embrace modern cooking technologies and transform the accessibility, affordability, reliability and sustainability of these technologies. Policies are the key drivers of this transformation. Achieving Kenya’s NDCs requires concerted efforts between centralized and decentralized energy solutions.

 

Why focus on counties?

The devolved system of government in Kenya into 47 counties established in 2013 led to the decentralization of significant powers and resources. Before then, energy was one of the key resource managed by the central government. County governments have since been developing strategies and policy frameworks geared towards defining functional roles and responsibilities in the energy sector in order to address their energy needs in a specific and more concentrated manner. Virtually every aspect of the devolved governance in the energy sector should be to develop and manage energy resources at the county levels effectively and efficiently, independent of the policy processes at national level. It is important to note that the National Assembly recently withdrew the Energy Bill and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill slowing down progress in the energy sector, and again, 43% of Kenyans still have no access to electricity, let alone sustainable energy solutions.

Various stakeholders in the energy sector have drawn significant interest in holding strategic energy policy dialogues with county governments, efforts which have been met with support and cooperation from specific county governments. A good number of counties have already developed detailed energy plans, integrating renewable energy into their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) and setting the pace towards sustainable energy development. However, these energy development plans need to be strengthened by incorporating capacity building – an aspect that is noticeably missing in the National Energy Bill - and participatory planning strategies to better address all the energy issues, and strongly promote the adoption of clean energy technologies within the local communities.

Renewable energy transition needs to be done in a very consultative and inclusive way that supports the vision of counties under their specific CIDPs. Therefore, involving county governments is very key in that; counties are the appropriate levels for energy access to be integrated into development planning – linking energy access to service provision and the various sectors such as agriculture, health, and education; counties are in the best position to account for what is being done by the various actors within their local area and facilitate connections across those actors/organizations; counties are much closer to the local people, best positioned to have broad knowledge on their specific needs; and also there is no better way to identify the existing capacity gaps than working directly with the counties.

 

Research-Policy Gap

The consequences of the kind of leaders we entrust to legislate on our natural resources reflect on the socio-economic status of our regions. It has never been easy to access, let alone convene, political leaders into a research oriented forum, so you will understand how moving it is to pick up the enthusiasm from County Executive Committee (CEC) members and Directors as you invite them to a workshop aimed at assessing the challenges and opportunities for capacity building engagements and to inform on energy governance at the county level, then go ahead to attend – some driving long distances through the night and in the rainy weather - and actively participating up to the very last minute of the event. The icing on the cake has to be the presence of the Kisumu County Government deputy governor, Hon. Dr Matthew Owili, who delivered a key note speech and officially opened the workshop. In his speech, Dr Owili emphasised the importance of such forums and the need for county governments to work together and partner with research organizations towards fighting the crosscutting effects of climate change.

Again, listening to a panel discussion made of the various county officials present including Makueni, Kisumu, Bomet, Kitui, Kakamega and Siaya, it was strikingly clear how necessary it is for leaders to have access to knowledge to understand and articulate the underlying issues in a coherent manner. The dedication and commitment portrayed by these county officials to serve the interests and improve the lives of their constituents was quite impressive. Electing great leaders has to be the first step in the right direction.

Just to note a few outstanding milestones on renewable energy from the panel discussion that can be emulated: Kisumu County is at an advanced stage of establishing a bioenergy centre; Kitui County developed a charcoal management Act in 2014 to curb the charcoal trade menace in the county, and is ready and open to investors in renewable technologies; Makueni County developed a fund to facilitate credit access by entrepreneurs including those in the renewable energy sector; Siaya County had drawn its own strategies for its energy sector growth. Of course there are a lot more exemplary examples from the rest of the counties.

 

Existing capacity gaps in the counties

Whilst on the second term of county governments (2018 – 2022) and for most of the counties, a new set of leaders, commendable progress in mainstreaming renewable energy at the community level has been made. County governments have drawn detailed energy plans incorporating the various energy resources, operative regulations/policies, and implementation strategies that are meant to promote energy efficiency and conservation within the counties. However, there exists several capacity needs to strengthen the link between energy governance and sustainable energy solutions in the counties. 

When asked to outline some of these capacity gaps over breakout sessions, the participants, amongst them the county officials, documented a comprehensive list that could instigate the necessary change if addressed attentively. The overarching resolution from the discussions was the need to convert all the ideas and concepts generated from the many forums like the TEA workshop into practical courses of action towards achieving renewable and sustainable energy. Other gaps identified included:

  • The lack of adequate short courses on energy and technical trainings of technicians and staff on specific areas in renewable energy technologies especially hot water systems, pumping systems, and solar lighting.
  • Not enough capacity building and support in policy formulation. There is need for inter-county trainings of government officials prior to the preparation and formulation of county energy plans, policies and legislations.
  • A renewable energy hub for knowledge/information sharing, management and documentation and technology transfer within counties is needed. This will also establish linkages for resource mobilization for research and development.
  • Adequate community participation models need to be established.
  • There is need for both financial and non-financial models that can accelerate and facilitate access of resources, together with targeted awareness creation for policymakers and for consumer sensitization.
  • The need for a proactive approach to public-private partnerships (PPP). Partnerships and engagements with legal entities, including cross-sectoral partnerships in renewable energy investments - the private sector has been said to take the lead in renewable energy investments.

 

Bridging the Gap: A County Renewable Energy platform

The most exciting and promising outcome of the TEA workshop was the conceptualization of a County renewable energy access Hub to provide comprehensive organizational, technological capacity support to county implementation of renewable energy plans. This is of course with the recognition that there are existing platforms on renewable energy information including SEforAll and the RE Directorate among others. The hub will be coordinated by ACTS in collaboration with the LCEDN, NETFUND and other partners, and will seek to involve donors and development partners – donors play an important networking and knowledge brokering role which could benefit counties; research institutions; the private sector; academic institutions; financial institutions – microfinance banks; and of course the governments and relevant ministries. Not enough emphasis can be given to the importance of having a knowledge and data sharing platform accessible to all the counties and involving all stakeholders in the energy sector.

This platform will be instrumental in further identifying the capacity gas in energy governance; securing funding opportunities; creating a robust structure for accountability, monitoring and reporting; preventing duplication of efforts; formulating roadmaps to be implemented by current and future county administrations; and  most importantly play a major role in strengthening intergovernmental relations to improve the coordination amongst the devolved units and also the coordination between the National and County governments.

In a nutshell, there is great potential to transform the energy sector within the Kenyan counties and in the country at large through coordinated efforts to mainstream renewable energy and sustainable energy solutions, supported by functional and inclusive policy formulation and implementation systems. Technologies need to be put into practice through collaborations with the counties to come up with sound investment plans and resource mobilization opportunities to support the strategies put in place. The energy networks that are being created by linking researchers, energy regulators, donors and experts are playing an important role in closing the nexus that has continually been created between energy and other related sectors