The Kenya Association of Manufacturers yesterday held the last day of their annual Kenya Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Conference and Exhibition at the Safari Park Hotel and Casino. The two-day long event had a lot of participants like KenGen, Resol, Davis & Shirtliff, SMA, Atlas copco, Chloride Exide, KEBS and Sarova Hotels among others.
The event covered emerging technologies, policy financing mechanisms and existing energy infrastructure helping the diverse audience with tools needed to accelerate renewable energy development in Kenya.
It had a great turnout with many presentations from various companies focusing on clean energy. Some of the key issues from the presentations include solar installation in remote areas to promote the development of Greenfield solar hybrid and mini grades and also recycling of waste products to produce power.
“Sarova Hotels has implemented use of solar power in various lounges. Solar water heaters give returns in 3 years. We train our staff on saving energy/power and recycling water that can later be used for flushing” mentioned Sarova Hotels Group Engineer, Mr. Rabindra.
Professor Izael Da Silva of Strathmore Energy Research Center and also a beneficiary of the Strathmore solar system said “With the help of DFID and DANIDA in 2012 we set up the first Climate Innovation Center (CIC) in the world at Strathmore University. It serves SMEs financially and technically to solve challenges posed by the impact of climate change. The main aim of the project all along has been to reduce carbon emissions”.
As various companies displayed their products and services at the exhibition, they gave the audience a good chance to interact and have physical knowledge on the products. As a way to reward the attentive audience Power technics gave away two portable solar LED lighting systems.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers awarded the renewable project of the year in the public sector to KenGen and the renewable project of the year in the private sector to Strathmore.