UNIDO ITPO hosts a Renewable Energy Boot camp at GDC  

United Nations Development Organization’s Italian Investment and Technology Promotion Office (UNIDO ITPO) carried out a renewable energy boot camp at the Polo Centre offices on July 13th and 14th 2023. As part of a technical mission to Kenya, nine experts from Italy were brought in to offer training at GDC, KenGen, and Strathmore University.

The boot camp comes in the backdrop of the successful Italy-Kenya Business and Investment Forum on Geothermal, held in Nairobi in March. The team from UNIDO-ITPO trained representatives from different technical departments within GDC on various aspects of geothermal energy development.

The training was organized in collaboration with the Corporate Planning and Strategy Department. Ms. Rosemary Njenga, GDC Senior Planning & Strategy Officer noted that GDC technical staff stand to benefit from the training.

“The renewable energy boot camp is instrumental in facilitating collaboration between Kenya and Italy,” explained Ms. Njenga. “The expertise, knowledge, and experiences shared by the team from Italy will add value to technical departments’ skillset as they advance GDC’s geothermal energy development mandate.”

On its part, the UNIDO ITPO team noted that the boot camp is an avenue to facilitate the exchange of know-how and best practices between the two countries, in order to bridge the gap and accelerate Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development in the geothermal sector of Kenya.

“Our aim through the Kenya Renewable Energy Boot camp is to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between Italy and Kenya in the renewable energy sector,” said Stefano Carrera, Communication & Multimedia Expert at UNIDO ITPO.

Corporate Planning and Strategy Officer, Mr. Ian Githinji, applauded the organization of the training. “The boot camp provided a platform to explore the differences and similarities in geothermal development in Kenya and Italy. We also gained insights into the present advancements in technology within Italy’s geothermal industry.”

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.

Direct Use Economist Mr. Bernard Rotich noted that “the experts from UNIDO-ITPO offered valuable insights on effectively tackling challenges and leveraging opportunities by drawing from comparable commercial Direct-Use initiatives in Tuscan, Italy.”