Kenya bets on solar power to bridge supply gap
The government is banking on solar power plants to bridge the electricity supply gap as it races to meet its target of increasing generation capacity by 5,000 megawatts by the end of next year.
Energy and Petroleum Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge last week said he energy ministry is currently evaluating “numerous” proposals from investors to set up solar plants around the country before they strike power-purchase deals with Kenya Power.
“We have always preferred to use the least cost sources of electricity. However, the uptake of solar locally has been slowed by research to reduce the rates at which this form of energy is fed to the national grid,” said Mr Njoroge.
Kenya closer to regional power trade
Kenya’s plans to buy electricity from Ethiopia have reached a critical stage, with the expected signing of a $231 million (Sh23.6 billion) agreement to start construction of transmission infrastructure.
The Kenya Transmission Company (Ketraco) will tomorrow ink a deal with the African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and French Development Agency (AFD), who will finance the project. A consortium of Siemens AG (Germany) and IsoluxIngeniera SA (Spain) will be the contractors.
In 2011, Kenya, through electricity distributor Kenya Power, reached a deal with Ethiopia’s Electric Power Company (EEP) to import 400 megawatts of electricity to boost local capacity, which is below demand at just 2,298 MW. However, the absence of carrier infrastructure has delayed the implementation of this agreement.
Google eyes share in Lake Turkana wind power construction project in Kenya
Information Technology giant Google has announced that it was buying 12.5 per cent stake in Africa’s largest wind farm that is the Lake Turkana Wind Power construction project in Kenya.
The IT firm has agreed to purchase the stake in the wind farm project in Kenya from the project’s third-largest investor Vestas, when it becomes operational in 2018.
Google is set to invest US$40,000 in Lake Turkana wind power construction project in Kenya.
The announcement by Google to fund the project makes it part of a diverse group of international investors supporting the project, key among them the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic), the US government’s development finance institution and Vestas, which is also supplying turbines for the wind farm.
Read more: Google eyes share in Lake Turkana wind power construction project in Kenya
KenGen Kenya Surges as Profit Quadruples; Cash Call Planned
Kenya Electricity Generating Co. shares jumped after it announced full-year profit quadrupled and set out plans to raise 28 billion shillings ($272 million) in a rights offer early next year.
The stock gained as much as 33 percent and traded 16 percent higher at 9.60 shillings by 11:01 a.m., heading for its biggest gain in more than nine years.
KenGen, as the company is known, on Monday reported profit of 11.5 billion shillings in the year through June from 2.83 billion shillings a year earlier, citing a tax credit and growth in its geothermal-power capacity. Revenue climbed 45 percent to 26.2 billion shillings.
Read more: KenGen Kenya Surges as Profit Quadruples; Cash Call Planned
