Kenyan off-grid solar project KOSAP is officially launched

The Kenya Ministry of Energy in collaboration with SNV and Sunfunder led the public launch of the Kenya Off-grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP) at an event that brought together more than 400 delegates from across the energy sector including Senior officials from the Ministry of Energy as well as key policymakers in Energy.

The event took place at The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on 11 June 2019 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Every participant had an opportunity to network with actors in the energy sector, clean cooking solutions providers and the county governments.

The purpose of the event was to explain the role of different actors such as the Ministry of Energy (MOE), World Bank, KOSAP Fund Manager (KFM), Private Sector and other partners in the actualization of the KOSAP Component 2 and to provide assurance to the private sector and other stakeholders that the MOE and KFM has put in place sufficient mechanisms to support and implement the KOSAP Component 2 in the KOSAP Service Territories. Delegates were also updated on the progress of KOSAP component 2 implementation and it was announced that that the financing facility is open for applications from 4th July 2019.  To learn more, please visit the KOSAP website.

About KOSAP :

Driven by the imperative to provide equal opportunities across the entire Kenyan territory as key to achieving Kenya’s Vision 2030, and the national target of achieving universal access to electricity by 2022, the Government of Kenya (GoK) seeks to close the access gap by providing electricity services to remote, low density, and traditionally underserved areas of the country. The GoK intends to use US$150 million of financing from the World Bank to deliver the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP) for Underserved Counties.

KOSAP promotes the GoK’s energy access objectives by supporting the deployment of clean cooking technologies for households, and the use of solar to drive the electrification of households, enterprises, community facilities, and water pumps.

The Ministry of Energy (MOE), Kenya Power and Lighting (KPLC) and the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) will implement the project in 4 components over a 5-year period (2018-2023):

Component 1:          US$40M: Mini-grids for Community Facilities, Enterprises, and Households

Component 2:          US$48M: Stand-alone Solar Systems and Clean Cooking Solutions for Households

Component 3:          US$40M: Stand-alone Solar Systems and Solar Water Pumps for Community Facilities

Component 4:          US$22M: Implementation Support and Capacity Building

The Ministry of Energy (MOE) will provide overall coordination of the project as well as implement components 2 and 4. Kenya Power and Lighting (KPLC) and the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) will be responsible for the implementation of Components 1 and 3.

The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) has defined 14 out of the 47 counties in Kenya as “marginalized areas”, also known as “underserved counties”. These counties collectively represent 72 percent of the country’s total land area and 20 percent of the country’s population and form the target area of KOSAP. They include: West Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita Taveta and Narok counties.

SNV in partnership with SunFunder are the Facilities Manager (FM) for KOSAP component 2.