BlackRock buys stake in Kenya’s Lake Turkana wind farm

BlackRock, an American asset manager, through the Climate Finance Partnership (CFP) has purchased stake in the Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya.

Danish Climate Investment Fund (DCIF) who were the sellers made the announcement and said the move aligns with its strategy of develop wind projects without remaining the long-term owner. Transaction was facilitated by a public-private financing vehicle involving the governments of France, Germany, Japan, and several US organizations.

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Lake Turkana wind farm

The sale of DCIF’s shares in the wind farm follows similar moves by other investors like the Finnish Industrial Cooperation Fund (Finnfund), the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND), and Vestas. The ownership of the wind farm now includes entities such as Anergi Turkana Investments, Milele Energy, and Sandpiper, in addition to the Climate Finance Partnership.

The Lake Turkana wind farm ranked as Africa’s biggest wind power plant, has 365 turbines supplied by Danish company Vestas – each with a capacity of 850kW and is said to be the most efficient in the world with 68% load capacity factor and an installed capacity of 310.25MW of clean, reliable, low-cost energy.

The project is part of Kenya’s commitment to meet a growing demand for electricity with 100% renewable generation, in order to bring down both national emissions and electricity costs. It currently supplies 14% of Kenya’s electricity through the state-owned Kenya Power grid.