Plans are underway for the construction of a 40MW solar power plant in Kenya in Lamu area, by a Kenyan company; this is after the approval of its feasibility study by the Ministry of Energy.
Kenya Solar Energy Ltd (Kensen) which is the company behind the project will start constructing the solar plant in September this year on a 100-acre piece of land at the coastal town of Lamu’s Witu area and the development has already attracted several investors. Kensen Managing Director, Mr. Stephen Migwi confirmed the news and said that the construction which will be funded by a loan from China is projected to produce electricity that will be fed to the national grid in the third quarter of 2017.
“The project will be funded by a loan from China and will take eight months to be complete,” Mr. Migwi said.
However, the Chinese company is still in talks with the Kenyan electricity distributor, Kenya Power and is expecting them to get to a conclusion of signing a power purchase agreement that will determine the rate at which the utility will buy the electricity for future sale to consumers.
Electricity production in Kenya nowadays depends on imported energy, like natural gas and fuel oil, while as the country operates below 1350MW instead of the essential 15,000MW as of today, however, there is still room for competition in the solar industry since its total installed power capacity is 2,294MW with solar power accounting for less than one per cent and this fact presents a huge market for interested solar companies. This initiative will lead to Kenya’s economic growth.
Kenya Solar Energy Limited [Kensen] is a locally registered Private Company Incorporated in the Year 2012 that Invests in Renewable Energy.
Extract from constructionreviewonline.com
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