Kenya’s Kipeto wind power project has come to completion after the American group General Electric concluded work on the wind farm site.
According to Kipeto Energy consortium, the last of 60 Wind Turbine Generators was successfully installed in May 2020.
“Kipeto Energy on 31st May 2020 successfully installed the last of 60 WTG’s with no Incidents recorded. This is a great milestone and we are very proud of the entire Kipeto Energy PLC team,all our Shareholders and all Stakeholders who have worked tirelessly towards the achievement of this great milestone despite the current Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement reads.
The project located in Kajiado county in southwestern Kenya will be commissioned before the end of the year with an expected output capacity of 100 MW.
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The project undertaken by two General Electric subsidiaries saw GE Renewable Energy, based in Paris, France, supply and install 60 wind turbines. In the 2019 contract, GE Renewable Energy was also tasked with providing a 220 kV high-voltage line that will be used to transmit electricity from the project site to a substation in Isinya, within the county.
GE Energy Financial Services (GE EFS), the other subsidiary based in the USA, took the responsibilty of marshalling finances for the realisation of the project, while the development was undertaken by Kipeto Energy consortium – the special purpose company owned by the British financial company Actis (88%) and Craftskills Wind Energy International (12%). The consortium is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
The US$ 344 million project has partly been financed by a US$233 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) – the American Company for Financing International Development (DFC), and the rest – US$ 88 million – provided by Actis (88%) and Craftskills Wind Energy International (CWEIL) (12%).
Kipeto wind farm project is part of the Power Africa initiative aimed at promoting access to electricity and the development of renewable energies with the objective of total capacity of 30,000 MW. Power Africa initiative was launched by former US President Barack Obama
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