The Lamu Coal Plant project in Kenya has been stopped by a court decision
Our friends and allies in Kenya just won a tremendous victory -- the National Environment Tribunal (NET) of Kenya has cancelled the licence previously granted to Amu Power, the developer of the controversial Lamu Coal Plant.
After years of inspiring and creative campaigning from the climate movement, the Kenyan National Environment Tribunal (NET) has just cancelled that license, citing the lack of effective public participation and social and environmental risks among other reasons.
Petitioners from Lamu celebrating the NET judgment. National Environment Tribunal observed that public participation and EIA study are the oxygen in any project. And that they can't excuse non-compliance. #LamuCoalJudgment #deCOALonize pic.twitter.com/dn6xdfJfdz
— deCOALonize Kenya (@deCOALonize) June 26, 2019
This is a huge victory for the climate movement, environmental rights, for the Lamu community and for our planet. Join us in the celebration: watch and share this 1-min video on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and help the news spread far and wide!
This outcome proves once again that people power is unstoppable -- and that when we mobilise and fight, we win. From emails, social media shares to the creative protests and letter-writing campaigns we helped organize, from small and localised meetings to huge rallies, we pushed and pushed and didn’t give up, even in the face of intractable targets.
This momentous ruling is a major step toward a fossil free Kenya.
What the deCOALonize movement accomplished in Kenya is the kind of bold and visionary action that puts us on the offensive against the fossil fuel industry. We need more of this kind of action in Kenya and around the continent. .
Today, we take a moment to celebrate. And tomorrow, we get back to work. We’ll keep the pressure on our elected officials at all levels, and fight for our climate and safety of our communities. City by city, province by province, country by country we won’t stop working to build people power for bold action that matches the scale needed to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Share the video on your social media to help spread the word about this milestone!
This unprecedented victory is proof that by collectively fighting for a more just and sustainable world, we’re able to defeat the devastating fossil fuel industry — and widen the horizon of the future we can create.
This victory is also a signal to every other governments, countries and multinational: Africa is not for sale. Together, we can start building a Fossil Free Africa.
Kenya doesn't need coal, Report reaffirms
A new report on the proposed Lamu coal plant in Kenya reveals that the project is a huge mistake in terms of investments, excessive power generation and electricity costs for consumers.
The report entitled The Proposed Lamu Coal Plant: The Wrong Choice for Kenya presented on the10th of June in Nairobi cautioned that the project would be ‘locking the country into a 25-year deal at a cost to consumers of more than US$9 billion, even if the plant never generates any power”.
Some of the highlights of the report which was compiled by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) include:
- Amu Power’s claims for the cost of Lamu-generated electricity are unrealistically low, based on outdated costs for the imported coal that will be burned and on overly optimistic assumptions about how much electricity the plant will generate.
- Using more realistic assumptions about future Lamu generation and coal costs, electricity from the plant could cost as much as 75 cents per kilowatt-hour (KWh), on average, during the years 2024 to 2037—more than 10 times what the plant’s proponents have claimed.
- This estimate does not include costs for port upgrades that would be required to bring coal to the plant, nor construction of the transmission infrastructure needed to distribute the power; the costs of these projects would add significantly to Lamu’s overall impact on electricity consumers and taxpayers.
The report also reaffirmed that the country doesn’t need any coal generation project, but should rather actively explore its abundant renewable resources to satisfy the likely growth scenarios.
Reacting to that release, the Kenyan government said it intends “to delay the Lamu coal-fired power plant to avoid a situation where Kenyans will end up paying for unused power if demand fails to keep up with the project’s output”.
“The coal plant will be built in the next four to five years as part of the Government strategy to delay new power over cost concerns’ said the Energy Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge
This is a great move in this campaign which has been going on for over five years. Lamu residents, activists, scientists and other social justice groups had fiercely challenged the project, pointing out its numerous dangerous impacts in terms of people’s health, livelihoods and ecosystems.
Author: Rukiya Khamis.