• Geoffrey Mabea who hails from Borabu in Nyamira county said he was excited and ready to take up the new assignment starting January 2.
• Mabea will operate from the EREA head office in Arusha-Tanzania.
A Kenyan who has been teaching at the University of Dundee in the UK is the new executive secretary of the Energy Regulatory Association of East Africa.
Geoffrey Mabea who hails from Borabu in Nyamira county said he was excited and ready to take up the new assignment starting January 2.
“I’m looking forward to working with stakeholders to realise a robust East Africa community energy union,” Mabea said.
Mabea will operate from the EREA head office in Arusha-Tanzania.
The EREA was established to spearhead an energy union for the East African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda).
At the University of Dundee, Mabea has been a regional energy markets researcher.
He has a renewable four year-contract in his new role, depending on his efficiency and delivery.
“I hope that as EREA, we will be able to narrow the energy access gap as well as meet the energy demand in the region,” he said.
He will report to the executive council and will be responsible for the overall management of the association.
Mabea will also initiate and sustain collaboration and cooperation with other regional and international institutions for the benefit of EREA, among several other duties.
Mabea previously worked with PwC Kenya. His PhD research quantified the economic welfare of integrating the energy markets for the region.
He further developed a model for introducing wholesale electricity markets for EAC and published on another model for integrating renewable energy into the power system.
An article in the University of Dundee website notes that many of the concepts Dr Mabea had covered in his tutorials, such as energy market calibration, locational pricing of electric power, and constrained optimisation, constitute the first principles of his work.
The quest for an integrated energy market in the East Africa Community began in mid-2000 when various initiatives through regional organisations-initiated projects that would promote economic development in Africa.
For energy markets integration to be realisable, substantial sector reforms are pertinent.
The reforms include a review of the existing laws and regulations and the establishment of relevant regional and internal institutions that would make it possible to implement a robust integrated energy market.