NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 23 – A five-year notice that requires developers to install solar water heating systems for houses with a capacity exceeding one hundred liters per day, will lapse this Saturday, 25th November.
This follows the lapsing of the 5 years grace period for the Solar Water Heating Regulations passed in 2012.
Jacqueline Wangui a Partner at MMC Africa Law says those who defy the law risk being slapped with a fine of up to Sh1 million or an imprisonment term of up to one year or both.
“The regulations had initially allowed for a five year grace period for compliance. When this grace period initially lapsed on the 25th of May earlier this year, the Energy Regulatory Commission granted developers and contractors a further six months from that date to comply with the requirements,’’ added Jacqueline Wangui.
The targeted include housing developers, owners, occupants and electric power distributors, educational institutions, hotels, hospitals and laundries, all of which are now required to be issued with a compliance certificate.
The law was made in a bid to boost the country’s efforts to implement a green economy strategy towards sustainable development by reducing its carbon emissions by 30 percent by the year 2030.
Buildings that fail to comply with the law beginning this Saturday will also not be supplied with electricity from the national grid.
In 2015, the Kenyan government pledged to the UN that it would meet the target by expanding solar, wind and geothermal power among other strategic measures.
This commitment has seen the government zero-rate import duty and removed value added tax charged on renewable energy equipment in a bid to boost the development and uptake of solar energy in the country.
