ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the development of renewable grid electricity in Kenya from 1997 to 2019 using four elements of the multi-level perspective framework of socio-technical and economic transition. Opportunities and constraints for the development and growth of the wind and solar electricity subsectors are analysed. The outcome over the 22-year period has been mixed but remains promising in terms of the potential for increased investments in solar and wind power in rural areas. Five legal statutory and policy milestones facilitated the transformation that was witnessed in the renewable electricity subsector. Notably, the share of non-fossil electricity in the overall mix increased substantially reaching 90% in 2019, however contribution from wind and solar did not record any remarkable change between 2010 and 2018 – accounting for a high of 3% share. The coming to grid of the Garissa Solar Plant (55 MW) and the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (310 MW) in late 2018 pushed the share to a high of 14.6% in 2020. Even so, factors including power politics, institutional inertia, and societal and cultural constraints have created a lock-in that is likely to limit the full realisation of Kenya's wind and solar energy.
