Abstract
Renewable energy projects offer prospects for sustainable development and meeting climate goals. However, new renewable energy projects, often driven by donor aid and foreign direct investment, have triggered several challenges, notably those related to conflicts. Struggles over renewable energy projects demonstrate a range of social opposition and injustice that needs to be better understood. This study applies a conflict sensitivity framework to examine how changes in energy systems alter conflict. Using the case study of the Lake Turkana Wind Farm (LTWF) and secondary sources, the study analyses the range of conflict mechanisms identified by project implementers, as well as independent analysts. Conflict mechanisms reveal how energy system changes may affect violence in the project area, as well as the kinds of socio-economic consequences of conflict generated by LTWF. The paper critically examines the discrepancies between the project developer, Lake Turkana Wind Power, and analysts of independent studies in how conflict mechanisms are attributed to pathways of increasing or reducing conflict. The paper finds that the project developer evaluates its impact on conflict in a minimal way, making conflict sensitivity limited. The paper extends examination beyond inequalities in project outcomes and indicates a way to understand conflict sensitivity throughout the energy system.