Accelerating Rural Electrification through Containerized Hydro Power Plant

About

National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND), which is a Government of Kenya agency, has partnered with HydroBox NV a private company that offers affordable electricity via decentralized run-of-river power stations in Kenya. Accelerating Rural Electrification through Containerized Hydro Power Plant won P4G's 2022 State-of-the-Art Partnership of the Year award. 

This partnership offers affordable electricity via decentralized run-of-river power stations in Kenya, allowing it to produce power 24/7, which makes it more reliable and affordable. The partnership provides an innovative way to supply renewable energy to rural areas which are not connected and stabilize the national electricity grid in areas suffering frequent outages with minimal environmental impact.

To date, the partnership has impacted the lives of over 3,000 people in Kenya by connecting 600 underserved households, businesses, hospitals and schools to affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity using mini-hydro installations. In addition, the partnership runs an incubation support program for agribusinesses that helps businesses and households make productive use of electricity via electrical appliance leasing models. 

The partnership provides technical and financial support to community enterprises to leverage on electricity by investing in appliances that increase productivity, lower post-harvest loss (through cold storage facilities) and diversify revenue streams. This creates meaningful and decent employment opportunities for the rural population. 

The containerized power plant that will be commissioned this year will generate 0.5MW and serve a population of 25,000 by end of 2022. Ultimately, the partnership aims to develop 18 additional projects of 23 MW with the goal to empower 1 million East Africans by 2027.