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COUNTY FOCUS
Solar lanterns
Apart from setting up the
biogas plant, the county
also plans to promote solar
energy projects. The policy,
for instance, states that all
public hospitals in the county
should drop conventional
water heating for solar water
heating. In partnership with
UN-Habitat, the county is also
set to train women how to
make solar lanterns.
“The plan is to train women and the youth
how to make solar lanterns that they can
sell to make money. We are currently
sensitising our residents about the need
to use solar energy, getting them receptive
and creating demand for the solar lanterns
that the women and youth will be trained to
make,” states the engineer.
Biashara Fund
She adds that the trained women and
youth will get access to Biashara Fund
to start small enterprises. Biashara Fund
is an initiative of Kiambu County where
individuals with convincing small scale
business plans get funded.
The county also has plans to start a wind
energy firm at Ndeiya. Talks with the
national government are underway for the
mass production of wind energy, with the
aim to shift from conventional to renewable
energy.
KIAMBU
oversees activities in Nairobi and its neighbouring
counties. On efforts to conserve energy at their
offices, the county has adopted two energy saving
recommendations from UN-Habitat.
Eng. Njeri explains that UN-Habitat recommended
that the county offices change from using desktops to
laptops and this is being implemented.
“They also suggested that we light streets with energy
saving LED bulbs instead of conventional ones. The
Energy PS has promised to supply us with LED bulbs
that consume less energy without compromising the
amount of light,” states the CEC
World Bank
Kiambu has also benefited from the Nairobi
Metropolitan
Services
Improvement
Project (NAMSIP), a World Bank project that
“We expect to produce enough energy to feed the national
grid and generate revenue that will be shared among the
county and partners.”
WATTS UP MAGAZINE APR - M AY 2017
29