Mwangi Mumero
28 April 2005
Nairobi — A small rural group in Meru South has shattered the myth that only giant corporates like KenGen can generate hydro electric power.
Having been repeatedly snubbed by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company in their attempt to get connected to the national grid, 150 members of Baraani Hydro-electric Self Help group have generated power from a local river and distributed it to over 36 households.
"We can now light up our houses, iron clothes, charge mobile phones and watch television programmes without worry of power failure, unlike Kenya Power and Lighting Company clients," asserts Wilkinson Kinyua, the group's chairman.
Their pilot project is already producing 10 KW of power for distribution to 36 members of the group.
The power is generated using a turbine installed at the roaring Owinga falls on River Baarani in Chogoria location in Mwimbi division of the district. Water is channelled through a big pipe and a concrete passageways into a turbine.
"The 20-metre high falls is currently generating enough and sustainable power for these household," says Gilbert Kinyua, the technical adviser to the project and an electrical engineering diploma graduate from the Kiambu Institute of Technology.
Gilbert says that this single-phase type of power distribution does not need transformers and is easily regulated within the household using switches and distribution points.
Members are supposed to source competent technicians for wiring their premises to avoid accidental power outages. "For cooking and lighting it is far cheaper than kerosene. Equally time lost going to charge mobile phone at Chogoria over four kilometre away can be expended elsewhere," says the chairman, a father of three who used to spend over Sh300 monthly on kerosene. At the generation site, a single concrete slab encloses the turbine that continuously produces the power. Two electric cables extend from this source to supply the power to adjacent households some more than a kilometre away.
Initially, each group member raised Sh15,500 to buy the turbine which cost Sh150,000. The rest of the money was used to purchase other requirements like cables and construction materials.
Now this community effort has attracted the attention of the Nanyuki based Community for Management of Protected Areas Protection (Compact) . Compact is funded by the Global Environmental Program of the United Nations Development Programme to help community projects around Mt Kenya.
Eight years ago, the United Nations declared Mt Kenya National Park a World Heritage Site and has worked hard to support local conservation initiatives.
With the assistance from Compact, the Baraani Group has already embarked on the second phase of the power generation plant that will produce 75 KW. Budgeted for Sh5.7 million, the community is expected to raise Sh2.2 million with the rest coming from the donor.
Already, a bigger turbine room has been constructed on the site and bigger passageways are being constructed on the ravine. Gilbert says that once the installation is complete, maintenance costs will be minimal.
"Other than replacing of a few parts and greasing the turbine, the costs are low. In five years, the local community will be self-sufficient in power requirements if full development of the falls is achieved," adds Gilbert. Distribution poles, not well treated like those of KPLC, will need to be replaced every three to five years, he says.
The group members though must learn the danger inherent in power production, distribution and usage. The chairman says they hold regular sensitisation sessions with their members on handling electric appliances, risks and safety associated with electricity. KenGen acknowledges there is nothing illegal with the group's activities.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2005 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
