East Africa Has Made Strides In Renewable Energy Transition - David Svarrer

Ismail Akwei

Technology solutions expert and the CTO of SkyFi Energy, David Svarrer, has commended the East African region for efforts made in renewable energy transition which has seen the installation of wind farms and other technologies.

David Svarrer, who is based in Kenya, was interviewed on The Qonversation and he mentioned some of the actions taken by countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region on renewable energy including allowing businesses creating solar energy to operate.

“Let’s say for Kenya, they have done a great job up in the Turkana region by setting up numerous of the Vestas wind turbines, which are actually, as I sit here and speak, the power here is, among other things, provided by these Turkana wind turbines,” he said.

He also advised that the expansion of the electrical grid from renewable energy sources should be the focus of African leaders due to the pressure on the grid.

“I would say the focus is very much on the expansion of the grid. And I have seen quite some substantial efforts being done in that area. I also understand that even though those leaders are trying to do their very, very best and I really think they do, there’s a huge demand which is growing tremendously, especially in the wake of COVID-19, where COVID-19 took a lot of toll on people because they could not show up in offices. So now they had to work from home, which put huge pressure on those corporations who are laying fibre optics and also put a lot of pressure on those organisations who stand for the electrical grid and the rollout of the grid,” he said.

He highlighted the importance of solar concentrators which he thinks are better than just creating solar cookers since they can do more than cooking. He also disputed the cost argument when it comes to clean energy and cited micropayment plans put in place for low-income earners to be able to afford clean energy technologies.

Watch this intriguing interview with David Svarrer on The Qonversation.