Powering progress, protecting wildlife: policy options for Kenya’s energy infrastructure

Abstract

Kenya has made major strides in expanding electricity access, with renewable energy central to its development and climate agenda. Solar, wind, and transmission infrastructure are expanding rapidly, reflecting global and national commitments to decarbonization. However, this progress brings unintended ecological risks. Power lines and wind farms cause bird electrocutions, collisions, and habitat fragmentation. This threatens vulnerable species such as raptors, bustards, flamingoes, and cranes. These impacts are well-documented globally but remain largely absent from Kenya’s wildlife and energy policy frameworks. Drawing on recent assessments and reports of bird mortality associated with transmission lines and renewable energy sites in Kenya, this policy brief shows that infrastructure-related bird deaths are an emerging but overlooked challenge. The omission leaves biodiversity unprotected and exposes the energy sector to avoidable financial losses from bird-related outages. Current strategies emphasize human–wildlife conflict, poaching, and habitat degradation, but overlook the risks from infrastructure growth. With Kenya’s energy POLICY BRIEF NO. 04 (2025) masterplan envisioning continued network expansion and regional interconnections, this policy gap could undermine conservation gains and international obligations under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), and the Paris Agreement. This policy brief highlights the urgency of integrating bird-safe infrastructure into Kenya’s policy landscape. It outlines policy options and concrete recommendations, such as amending the Wildlife Act and Energy Act, establishing cross-sectoral coordination, mandating mortality monitoring, and mobilizing funding for mitigation. This will ensure that Kenya’s renewable energy future is both climate-smart and biodiversity-safe. The policy brief is informed by a study conducted between 2021 and 2024 to assess electrocution and collision hotspots in Kenya. The study was led by Strathmore University’s Centre for Biodiversity Information Development and examined the impacts of electrocution on raptors. Keywords: Renewable energy, ecological risks, vulnerable species, wildlife policy, electrocution and collision