Italian delegation holds renewable energy bootcamp in Kenya

The Renewable Energy bootcamp by UNIDO ITPO in the premises of GDC in Nakuru, Kenya (source: GDC)

The United Nations Development Organization’s Italian Investment and Technology Promotion Office (UNIDO ITPO) recently held a renewable energy boot camp across the cities of Nairobi, Naivasha, and Nakuru in Kenya. Italian experts were on hand to facilitate the exchange of know-how and best practices in the field of geothermal between Italy and Kenya. The boot  camp comes in the backdrop of the successful Italy-Kenya Business and Investment Forum on Geothermal, held in Nairobi in March.

The boot camp kicked off with a conference at the Strathmore University in Nairobi, with great active participation of young students and professionals. On the second day, the expert delegation moved to Naivasha, in the heart of the Great Rift Valley, at the Olkaria Geothermal Spa by KenGen, where the delegates further illustrated new topics of interest to the local team members.

Finally, the last two days of the Bootcamp were held at the premises of the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) in Nakuru, focusing on both technical aspects of geothermal energy as well as on its social, economic and environmental impact on the local communities, for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, toward the achievement of UNIDO’s mandate and the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

The delegation sent by UNIDO ITPO was composed of nine Italian experts representing the main national associations, academia, and companies in the field of research and development of geothermal – namely Sapienza University of Rome, the Italian National Research Council (CNR), Enel Green Power, Italian Geothermal Union (UGI), Opus Automazione, the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology – Vesuvius Observatory (INGV-OV), the Consortium for the Development of Geothermal Areas (COSVIG), and Steam Group.

The boot camp is organized as a part of the project “Fostering International Partnerships between Companies and/or Institutions operating in the Energy and Environment sectors” (FIPEE) funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security and implemented by UNIDO ITPO Italy. The project aims to support the commercialization and scale-up of sustainable energy and environmental technologies and projects in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) among the partner countries and Italy through the promotion of investment and trade.

Source: UNIDO ITPO and GDC