NAIROBI, July 6 (Reuters) – Kenya’s largest utility said on Tuesday its certified emission reduction credits (CERs) available for sale had more than doubled to over 550,000.
A CER is equivalent to one tonne of CO2 and they are part of emission reduction efforts under the Kyoto Protocol.
Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KEGN.NR) (KenGen) said it had an additional 309,495 CERs certified under United Nations guidelines on climate change.
KenGen has six so-called Clean Development Mechanism projects which can generate CERs with the potential to produce 1.5 million tonnes of carbon equivalent per year.
Its latest CERs under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are from its 105 megawatt (MW) Olkaria II geothermal power station.
"550,981 tonnes of CO2e has already been issued by the UNFCCC and are now available for sale," KenGen said in a statement.
The East African nation’s biggest electricity producer has an installed generation capacity of 1,818 MW, of which it says 86% is from renewable wind, hydroelectric and geothermal sources.
In May, the government said it aimed to set up an emissions trading system to allow companies and other bodies to buy emissions allowances as part of its efforts to limit the release of greenhouse gases. read more
Kenya loses 2.0–2.4% of its gross domestic product annually due to the effects of climate change, such as drought and floods, according to a 2018 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics study.
The study showed droughts cost Kenya 8% of its GDP every five years.
