Climate change has taken a backseat over the past two years as mankind grappled with the global coronavirus pandemic.
Just as the pandemic was receding, a fresh tragedy began to unfold in Ukraine after war broke out with Russia.
The United Nations Environmental Assembly presents a chance to refocus as the assembly convenes right here in Nairobi this week.
As climate change carries with it the potential to end life as we know it on this planet, it is worth highlighting the collaboration between nations to find means to combat global warming. A Japanese-funded solar project in Kilifi is a shining example.
Coming up with new technologies and bilateral arrangements is the strategy at play to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the most significant causes of global warming.
Kenya has taken the lead as the second country in Africa to introduce Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to achieve a climate-neutral world.
This was made possible after the signing of a bilateral document on the JCM on June 12, 2013, between Kenya and Japan. One of East Africa’s largest salt manufacturers has since benefitted in a project funded by the Japanese to reduce GHG in the Gongoni township of Magarini subcounty, Kilifi county.
In Africa, only Kenya and Ethiopia signed the bilateral agreement.
On February 7, 2021, a joint committee between Japan and Kenya endorsed the first issuing of JCM credits from the project of a solar PV system implemented at Krystaline salt factory, which was funded by the Ministry of Environment, Government of Japan.
The factory is located in Gongoni, Magarini, 23.7km from Malindi town.
Japanese authorities said the project was the first under the scheme which generated GHG reduction-rewarded credit in Africa.
The Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA5.2) resumed this week, running from February 28 to March 2, while UNEP@50 will be held from March 3 to March 4.
CARBON CREDITS
It is with this in mind that I journeyed to Gongoni to study a sterling example of cross-national collaboration in fighting climate change through the use of the innovative global “carbon credits” mechanism, which seeks to slow down the GHG emission.
Over the weekend, I was invited to visit the Krystalline salt firm Solar PV system to see the Japanese technology, and it proved to be a very impressive use of the latest technology.
“This project aims to reduce GHG emissions by introducing a 991kW solar PV system at a salt factory of Krystalline Salt Limited (Kaysalt) in Kilifi county,” a report from the Japanese embassy said.
“The solar PV system will generate 1.6GWh of clean electricity annually for salt production, and the company will save around 22 per cent of its electricity costs.”
The report further noted that the solar PV system will substitute around 24,000 litres of diesel each year, amounting to a reduction of 1,268 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Jayesh Vekaria, the project manager of Krystalline salt company, said the Solar PV system was funded by the JCM in the form of a grant to the company.
In an interview, he mentioned that as a company, they came to know about the JCM in 2015, and thereafter began the process of getting the plant installed and running.
It took them a year to get the grant from the Japanese government through the Kenyan government.
“This plant was installed in 2016 with the help of Japan. Before that, we were using energy from the grid and the gensets (generator sets) we have,” he said.
As a member of the UN Global Compact, they had an obligation to protect the environment, which helped them back the SDG number 7.
Vekaria said the solar plant has been in operation for five years, and they have reduced electricity costs by 25 per cent.
“We have saved about 5,000 metric tonnes of carbon going to the environment either by means of the genset or basically using the power from the grid,” he observed.
In the funding, the Japanese government gave them a grant of 50 per cent by using Japanese technology.
To this end, all the panels of the solar plant are from the Japanese company Kyocera TCL Solar LLC.
The project manager said the size of the plant is 991KW, while the AC installed is 850KW. The system is combined with the gensets such that during the day, the gensets run at minimum loading and thus pushing much of the PV into the system, which then enables them to save about 70 per cent on fuel costs, which is the amount of emissions saved to the environment.
PROJECT IMPACT
The Krystalline project manager mentioned that during the construction phase, they employed 40 people, including members of the local community and technical ones.
He added that there are four people looking after the panels, including cleaning them and clearing the vegetation around.
Per day, the solar panels produce 4000KW. There are 3,740 panels, whose sizes are 265 watts.
“We have 34 inverters and one Fuel Save Controller, which integrates the whole plant to the gensets,” the general manager said.
During the day, they are able to use the energy and at times they rely solely on solar at the industry.
On Saturdays, the company receives 50 per cent of its energy from solar. On Sundays, however, Krystaline runs 100 per cent on solar.
Further to this, the solar system contributes 30 to 40 per cent of the industry’s requirement to the daily consumption from six o’clock in the morning to six o’clock in the evening.
“Therefore, we can produce up to 850KW, and our demand is about 1200KW,” he said.
The main purpose of bringing in the plant was frequent grid failures, which used to halt their production.
During any production failure, Vakeria said, the process took time for them to get back on track, leading to a loss of more than half an hour of production time.
However, with the solar system, even with a grid failure, the production stops for only a minute and then restarts. This has helped them achieve their production targets as well.
The project manager said among the positives of the solar system is that it is maintenance-free. They only do an annual inspection, where they do ground tests to see if there are damaged panels or corrosion of some of the equipment, since they are in a salty environment.
“We have not had a single failure since the installation. The inverters are warranted, the panels' lives are 25 years, so we are safe for at least I can say for 25 years,” Vakeria said.
In 2016, when the system was set up by the Japanese at Krystaline, it was the only one in the country.
Other companies have since followed suit to cut costs and get a reliable power source.
GREEN ENERGY
Vakeria urged other industries in Africa to take advantage of the grants available through JCM because there is an ample amount of green energy in the continent.
He said Kenya, or industries, in particular, need to have a goal and set targets to be carbon-neutral by a certain period to fast-track climate change action.
“People should invest in green energy. It’s better for the environment not just for Kenya but for the globe as well,” he said.
Krystaline is happy to be working with the Japanese government, who introduced the JCM technology, and since they gave them a grant, they shall give them carbon credits for 10 years.
That means they cannot sell the carbon credits and have to report monthly to the Japanese government, who in turn visit the industry annually to verify the claims they made so they can log on their side and confirm the amount of carbon offset with the plant in Kenya.
“Ours can offset about 5,000 per year, so about 1,000 metric tonnes in a year,” he said.
“So I would in particular like to thank the government of Japan through the Kenyan government. It was a joint collaboration between Japan and Kenya, where this plant has come up.”
Krystalline Salt Limited also have another micro solar plant at one of their salt firms, which was installed in 2013 as a pilot project.
In Gongoni, they have done water harvesting and planting trees, which made them be runners-up in the Kenyan awards in 2019.
Apart from environmental protection, they have done a lot for the community including building schools, hospitals issuing grants to bright needy students as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.
By facilitating the diffusion of Japan’s low-carbon technologies, products, systems, services, and infrastructure as well as the implementation of mitigation actions, the JCM aims to contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions and sustainable development in Kenya.
The result of reducing GHG emissions through the JCM is assessed as a contribution by both Japan and Kenya, and the two countries share the carbon credits.
The JCM between Japan and Kenya provides a model for other countries to achieve a carbon-free future and sustainable development.