For Joan Akiru, trouble-shooting wind power plants and ensuring they work at optimum levels is a routine.
Ms Akiru is the only female engineer on daily assignment of ensuring the country’s biggest wind power plant in Turkana does not break down for prolonged periods.
For a country where wind is the third biggest source of electricity, Ms Akiru’s routine of monitoring the power plants is priceless.
She helps to maintain all the three wind plants in Kenya.
"I am part of the Nashola Elites Association where we empower young girls and boys to help them in their formal education."
Apart from the Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant (LTWP), the biggest wind power plant in Africa, she also supports Kipeto Wind and KenGen’s wind farm in Ngong Hills.
Ms Akiru has previously worked as a field service technician at T5 Wind Farm in Thailand and at HST Energy in The Netherlands.
The electronic and electrical engineer graduated in 2016 from Dedan Kimathi University of Science and Technology and was part of a team that set up the 310-megawatt LTWP in 2016 in Marsabit County.
She supervises the installation and commissioning of wind turbines in Kenya and abroad, cementing her role in helping countries shift to clean energy.
The 34-year old from Baragoi in Samburu County has, in a decade, grown from a field technician to a manager.
She is a member of Nashola Elites Association where, alongside other professionals from Samburu, they mentor students from the area and lead environmental conservation.
“I am part of the Nashola Elites Association where we empower young girls and boys to help them in their formal education. Remember that it (accessing education) is even tougher for young girls from marginalised communities like ours,” she says.
Away from work, she mentors young girls from Samburu, who are keen on Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics, one of the career pathways in Kenya’s education system.
— John Mutua