Infrastructure
Chinese firm races to finalise Kenya’s largest solar plant
The Garissa solar power plant will produce 76,470 megawatt hours (MWh) a year.
Construction of the largest solar power plant in Kenya, with a maximum capacity of 54 megawatts (MW), is well underway in Garissa with the Chinese contractor expecting the project to be fully operational in the next seven months.
China Jiangxi International Kenya Limited’s engineers are currently racing to beat a self-imposed deadline, and the company has assured the stakeholders that it will do its best to complete the project by September.
The 85-hectare Garissa solar power plant is being set up at a cost of Sh13.5 billion – an amount that has been advanced by the China Exim Bank.
On completion, the solar plant that comprises 300,000 solar panels will produce 76,470 megawatt hours (MWh) a year – enough to power 625,000 homes, while slashing carbon emissions by 64,190 tonnes a year.
Rural Electrification Authority chief executive Peter Mbugua said on Tuesday that the project in Balambala Sub-County will inject additional power to the national grid – thereby boosting Kenya’s stride towards clean energy.
“We are happy with the progress. We have a target to deliver this project in September,” Mr Mbugua said while touring the project.
China Jiangxi has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Kenya Power to sell electricity generated from the solar plant at Sh12/kWh.
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In October 2012, Chinese photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer JinkoSolar Holdings announced that it had signed a deal with China Jiangxi to supply photovoltaic modules for the solar park.
“We expect this project will provide JinkoSolar with future opportunities in Kenya’s solar power plant industry,” the NYSE-listed firm said in a statement.
The Garissa solar plant comes at a time when Kenya is aggressively pushing for alternative power sources to supplement unreliable hydro-power and expensive diesel-generated thermal power.
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