Mini hydropower plants transform rural communities in Kenya
A young Kenyan who grew up without electricity, has developed a micro hydroelectric power device that delivers cheap, clean electricity for homes and businesses. It's transforming rural, off-grid communities in his area.
Transcript
00:00 The Sagana River in central Kenya is the main tributary of the country's longest
00:05 river. A popular spot for water recreation, it's also helping to generate
00:10 electricity. This wilderness camp for tourists, for example, has had its own
00:15 hydropower turbines for more than 10 years. River water is subverted to power
00:21 the waterwheel.
00:24 When the turbine spins, it generates 15 amperes when the high water and when
00:30 it's low water is 3 amperes. It goes through the inverter, then the inverter
00:36 charges the batteries. And when the water levels are high, we are able to use it in
00:40 freezers, fridge, instant showers and the lighting. Energy studies conclude that
00:48 generating electricity locally using hydropower has huge potential, especially
00:53 in remote areas that are difficult to electrify, like the mountainous Moranga
00:58 County. Here too there's plenty of water available to generate power. The beauty
01:04 with Moranga is one of those regions that is blessed with frequent
01:08 water flows because of the favorable tropical condition. The area
01:14 experiences a lot of rain, it's near Mount Kenya, so there's a lot of
01:19 favorable conditions that really support the communities in those areas to be
01:23 able to invest in such many hydro projects. A key figure in
01:30 bringing hydropower to the region is John Magiro. He started out building
01:35 small turbines to provide power to his community. He then teamed up with a
01:40 Belgian businessman to found a company and scale up the technology. For Magiro,
01:45 it's a dream come true. He grew up without electricity. In my village there
01:50 was no connection of the power and there was no solar and also the
01:54 national grid. So the main challenge was the time that I was doing my study I
01:59 could not mainly get access to the power. I was at that time using the
02:03 paraffin. Unlike hydroelectric dams, these plants don't require large reservoirs or
02:09 the resettlement of entire villages. Part of the river is simply redirected down a
02:14 sluice way at speeds fast enough to rotate turbines before being channeled
02:18 back to the river. The electricity is fed into a network of lines across the
02:24 region. With this relatively simple system, Magiro and his team are supplying
02:29 power to nearly 500 households and 35 schools and businesses. We have also
02:34 improved the main agriculture here of the farming because right now they can
02:39 use the same electricity to pump the water to their home. Also the other
02:45 thing that has mainly improved in this region is the improvement of the
02:50 education because they could be able now to run their students could be able to
02:55 run online because they have the power. Just over 75% of people in Kenya
03:03 currently have access to electricity but even those connected to the national
03:08 grid can't always be sure that power will be available when they need it. As
03:12 farmers here know all too well. We were connected to the national grid but it
03:19 would often fail. It would cut out. Unhatched eggs would be in our incubators
03:25 but when the electricity went off the chicks would die and we made a loss.
03:30 That's why we decided to get connected to Magiro's grid and indeed it doesn't
03:36 have cuts. This tea factory has also signed up for John Magiro's hydropower
03:43 to avoid the regular outages. Central Kenya is famous for its tea but
03:51 processing the leaves is energy intensive so a reliable source of power
03:56 is key. If we don't have power it will almost rot and affect the quality of the
04:06 tea but now with the stable power we are able to produce in a very standard way
04:11 the quality of tea that is acceptable globally and also helps in improving
04:18 also the price of the tea and translates to additional income ultimately to the
04:24 farmer. But long periods of drought do lead to less power. When water levels are
04:31 low the turbines hardly rotate and sometimes get clogged with debris too. To
04:37 counter this problem the wilderness camp decided to add solar panels to its power
04:42 mix. The Hydrobox team are also pursuing the same principle but on a much larger
04:48 scale. Their hydroelectric power plant is covered in photovoltaic panels which
04:53 help to keep the electricity flowing when water levels are low. It is not like
04:59 the time that I was in high school. Charging the phone you could mainly need
05:04 to walk about five kilometers because of the people that they are access to the
05:09 electricity but right now 99% in this region they are connected with our electricity.
05:16 John Magiro made his first simple turbine as a child using parts from his
05:22 brother's bicycle. Since then he's never lost his love of hydropower. Now his one
05:29 hobby is benefiting the entire region.