Kenya is asking the European Union to set up an insurance fund to entice investors to venture into the African energy market. Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi told the African-EU high level partnership meeting in Vienna, Austria that the lack of insurance was delaying developing countries from increasing power projects.
"We need to be able to cushion government investments that do not yield the desired results like sinking a well without the expected geothermal production that will call for a new one. It is an expensive affair that African countries need to be insured against," said Murungi.
Dr. Elham Ibrahim, the commissioner for infrastructure and energy at the African Union Commission, said countries needed to consolidate their efforts in order to make the 10,000 MW installation targets a reality. This includes 5,000 MW for wind energy production units and 500 MW of solar energy production across the continent.
However, Murungi said that these targets were too low for a country like Kenya that has geothermal potential of 600 MW by 2013. He added that Kenya plans to produce 14 MW of wind energy in Laisamis with Spain investing €20 million, adding an extra 6.4 MW costing €10 million coming from Belgium.
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