Just sustainabilities: lessons from the Lake Turkana Wind Power project in Kenya

Africa's largest wind power plant, the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project in Kenya, serves as a case study revealing that mainstream development theories are insufficient for analyzing transitions to renewable energy. The research, employing critical discourse analysis within a political-economic framework on just sustainabilities, demonstrates that the LTWP project operates within dominant capitalist structures, prioritizing market forces and capital accumulation while neglecting local inclusion concerns in Northern Kenya. This challenges the narrative of renewable energy projects as inherently beneficial, highlighting the need for alternative, radical theories centered on concepts like 'just land' to address socio-ecological crises effectively.

Simberg-Koulumies, N. (2023). Just sustainabilities: lessons from the Lake Turkana Wind Power project in Kenya. Local Environment, 29(1), 40–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2023.2249497