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Construction of Africa’s Biggest wind power project to commence in June in Kenya
Wind farm located at the Ngong Hills near Nairobi, Kenya. PHOTO/File
The construction of Africa’s biggest wind power project – the Lake Turkana wind power project in Kenya, will begin in June this year after having secured US$ 690 million in funding officials said on Monday.
The funding represents a major breakthrough to actualizing the biggest clean power energy project in Africa, spanning years of negotiations and fundraising, says Tshepo Mahloele, CEO of Harith General Partners, a pan-African infrastructure focused fund manager and a major investor in the project.
The Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project will generate an initial capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) and will help to plug a power supply shortfall in East Africa’s biggest economy. A Kenyan official said a 428 kilometer (266 miles) transmission line would be built to transport the electricity from the wind farm.
About half of the country’s electricity is produced from hydro sources, and the rest from geothermal – using steam from below the earth’s surface – or diesel.
The wind power scheme could save Kenya up to US$150 million annually in money used to import fuel for thermal power generation according to initial estimates.
The project will bring on line 20 percent of Kenya’s installed capacity at a Ksh9 (US$0.104) per kilowatt hour, thus contributing to the government’s push to lower electricity costs.
The Kenyatta administration said last year it aimed to halve the cost of electricity within 3 – 4 years from between US$0.17 and US$0.18, mainly by replacing diesel generation, which costs about Ksh35 (US$0.41) per kilowatt hour.
