• Power accounts for up to 20 percent of their total budget.
• This has seen them partner with consultants to access global climate financing and reduce energy costs at their facilities.
Image: FILE
Hotels at the Coast are seeking financing for alternatives sources of energy to cut soaring power bills.
Players in the sector say they have been spending up to Sh4 million monthly on energy bills alone.
Power accounts for up to 20 percent of their total budget.
This has seen them partner with consultants to access global climate financing and reduce energy costs at their facilities.
Stakeholders in the hospitality industry, who held a meeting in Mombasa, agreed that energy was a big challenge in hotel management.
The National Environment Trust Fund, (NETF) director for research George Mwaniki said they have acquired funding to the tune of Sh50 million.
Part of the funds will be used to hire consultants to take stakeholders through developments of concepts around global climate financing.
“We called in hotels to see if we could design a program around global climate financing and how to get resources. They welcomed the idea saying the nature of the industry has seen business fluctuate, and high power bills make them struggle to keep afloat,” Mwaniki said.
The hoteliers, through the Kenya Coast Tourist Association, said all they needed was some form of guaranteed financing where they would get funds and payback.
The program by NEF and KCTA targets at least 100 Coast hotels which can be beneficiaries of the idea to have the industry use clean energy, and fossil-based fuels.
The KCTA chief executive Officer, Julius Owino, said the target is to have a high-breed of grants and loans for the hoteliers to tap in and maximise on environmentally friendly energy options.
“We anticipate that through the African Development Bank, we will be able to rope in local financial institutions, together with NEF, for members to access financing,” he said.
The main focus is to come up with environmental controls and reducing carbon emissions, as well as the cost of energy, doing business and operating in environmental friendly establishments.
“Some hotels pay as much as Sh5 million for electricity bills. Kaskazi hotel in the South Coast installed solar power and is used as a model hotel. They still use electricity but they have been able to reduce their power cost between 40-50 percent per month,” Owino said.
Dr. Mwaniki said after further discussions and development of concepts, they will be sent to Korea, where they have the Green Climate Fund headquarters.
“It is our first ever engagement with hoteliers and it has defined energy as a major problem. Having to part with 20 percent or more of the total budget for any establishment is on the higher side,” Dr Mwakini said.
He said this has made it difficult for Kenya to compete with other countries like Egypt and Zanzibar, whose energy consumptions are quite low.
“Egypt has between 5-7 cents per kilowatt, United States of America does about 5 cents too, but Kenya is doing around 19 cents. We are trailing even compared to our neighbor Uganda which does around 12 cents of the same,” he added.
Owino added that energy costs was a nightmare to hoteliers and were a major determination in the pricing of destinations.