A 120-megawatt engineering, procurement and construction project by the Suswa Solar Pack Corporation is set to break ground in Kenya this September, lighting the way for other consortia to invest in this kind of projects that provide clean and affordable energy, whose carbon credits can be harvested across the continent.
The investment is estimated to be between $ 180 million to $ 230 million dollars, with the Korean Exim Bank as one of the financiers, and with not one but two former presidents of Madagascar in the country on an advisory and bench-marking trip. Madagascar is interested in this landmark project, whose goal is the universal 100 % transition to clean energy.
Kenya has taken on a bold green growth initiative that aims to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030, President William Ruto has said in the past. Ruto said this comprehensive plan also includes promoting green manufacturing, sustainable agriculture, eco-friendly urbanization, and green transportation. Currently, Kenya’s grid is 92% renewable.
Nevertheless, the Head of State said that in order for Kenya and the rest of the continent to achieve green industrialization based on renewables, investment, and financing are needed.
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This is where Mc Alee Lemene, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Musa Solar Solutions’ comes in. Mc Alee Lemene has a proven 26-year track record of creating and growing a multi-million-dollar solar energy organization, and he will be the spearhead for this mega-project with its average Ksh26-billion-shilling investment in Suswa.
Energy production and access hold back the rise of the continent; on the other hand, Africa’s renewable energy potential is 50 times the global anticipated electricity demand in 2040. President Ruto has highlighted the continent’s significant potential for renewable energy, which he believes can support its development goals: “Africa is rich in solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro resources.”.
Of particular note is the Grand Inga dam, which could potentially generate up to 40 per cent of the electricity needed on the continent. Suswa is a logical place to set up at for Kenya’s needs. This underscores the immense scale of Africa’s renewable energy potential, and Mc Alee sees it as a key driver of sustainable development.
Mr. Lemene’s vision for Musa, its partners and employees, is to deliver energy justice to the under-resourced global communities through the climate-friendly juice of clean energy, while creating value for all stakeholders. “These communities that are either paying high prices for their energy (US) or have unreliable access to electricity in general – Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and so on,” he says.
Africa has vast potential in the renewable energy sector. The continent boasts 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources. This makes it an ideal location for solar power. In addition, 80 per cent of the new power generation capacity is renewable. “Africa accounts for over 40 per cent of global reserves of cobalt, manganese, and platinum – key minerals for batteries and hydrogen technologies,” President Ruto pointed out at the AU.
Before founding Musa in 2021, Mr. Lemene founded Soleil Energy Solutions, a solar project development company in early 2010. The company started out focusing on developing solar projects. Since 2012, it has ventured in co-developing all other renewable projects including hydro, bio-mass and wind. In the following decade, Soleil developed, co-developed and consulted on projects in the 4MW to up to 700MW.
President Ruto has often expressed optimism about the continent’s potential to become a global leader in sustainable industrialization. “We, therefore, have an opportunity to lead the world and show that we can industrialize and prosper – and achieve this in a low carbon and sustainable manner, and make this century, an African Century.”
Prior to Soleil, Mr. Lemène spent over 13 years in the semiconductor industry working as both an engineer and project manager, managing multiple projects with individual revenue of $10 to $200 million for a variety corporations, such as Qorvo, Tyco Electronics-Macon and Ericson.
The continent of Africa has vast clean energy resources and the potential to leapfrog the dirty energy practices of the past. By harnessing these resources, Africa can achieve economic growth while minimizing its carbon footprint on the planet. As part of his party’s 2030 Manifesto, Ruto has emphasised the importance of Africa’s role in promoting sustainable equitable economic development, despite being among least responsible for climate change in the world – which is why we could reap big from carbon credits.
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“Although we Africans are least responsible for climate change the most at risk; we can lead the way in ensuring green growth as a critical pathway to a sustainable future and economic prosperity, decoupling economic development from carbon and the use of polluting energy,” President Ruto has said.
As a project manager, Mr. Lemène had numerous experiences in projects start-up processes – defining and planning the scope, schedule, cost, human resource etc.- and project executing and monitoring processes (quality assurance, acquiring & developing project team members, information distribution, and so on). His project management background will therefore be critical in managing the start-up process of this new venture and managing the day-to-day operational aspects of the business (marketing, sales, installations, and monthly monitoring).
Wangari Muchiri, Africa Director for the Global Wind Energy Council said to BT that by prioritizing renewable energy and investing in green growth, Kenya is positioning itself as a leader in the global transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon future. Muchiri said it is commendable that Kenya is leading the way with an ambitious green growth agenda, especially targeting 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Africa is well placed to take advantage of this moment considering it has more wind and solar energy resources than any other continent.
“This will be a great example for other countries in the region and will make Kenyan products more attractive to external markets such as the EU. We look forward to seeing wind energy, which already provides 15 per cent of Kenya’s energy, is a key pillar in the transition to 100 per cent renewable energy.” Muchiri said.
Mohamed Adow, Climate Justice Advocate and Director of Energy and climate think-tank, Power Shift Africa has said this is a huge wake-up call for African leaders and exactly the kind of leadership we need to see – as shown by the active, advisorial roles of the Madagascar ex-presidents currently in the country, Excellencies Marc Ravolomanana and Hery Rajaonarimapianina, who see the clean energy sweep as one due from Horn to Indian Ocean.
“Africa is well placed to take advantage of this moment considering it has more wind and solar energy resources than any other continent. But our leaders need to take a Pan-African approach and work together if we’re going to capitalize on this opportunity.”
Energy Transition
Landry Ninteretse, regional director at 350 Africa, a grassroots climate change advocacy organization has said the rallying call to our African leaders to prioritize the transition to renewable energy on the continent is laudable.
Africa suffers disproportionately from the impacts of climate change, and cannot afford to be non-committal on climate action. There must be urgent, concerted efforts to phase out fossil fuels, including gas, and build sustainable, community-centred renewable energy systems, and the Suswa Solar Pack spearheaded by Mr. Mc Alee Lemene is a light swathing away the Dark Ages of dirty energies.
“However, African leaders cannot claim to champion the energy transition while fronting fossil gas as part of the solution and making plans for its expansion,” Ninteretse says. “Leading the way on green growth means accelerating the just energy transition that is indispensable in radically transforming the continent, socially, economically, and ecologically.”
The 2025 World Conference on Carbon is due to be held next week (June 29th to July 4th) in Saint-Malo, France, in the environmentally friendly region of Rennes, to reminisce on these issues.
Tony Mochama is a renown journalist and was a recent literary delegate to UNESCO in Paris.
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