Infrastructure
Kesses Solar Power Station
The plant, also known as Alten Solar Power Station, has a 40MW installed capacity.
Kesses Solar Power Station is a 40MW solar power plant in Eldoret, about one kilometre east of Eldosol Solar Power Station and Radiant Solar Power Station.
Construction of the solar power plant, also known as Alten Solar Power Station, commenced in December 2018, and it was commissioned in June 2023.
The entire ground-mounted solar project spreads over an area of 250 acres.
Project details
The power generation component of the Kesses Solar Power Station covers a surface area of about 10 hectares, which enables it to produce about 123.6GWh/year of clean energy – enough to power about 824,000 homes.
The power plant is made up of more than 161,000 monocrystalline panels set into solar single-axis trackers on 250 acres (about 100 hectares).
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The Eldoret solar power plant connects to the 230 kV power transmission line between Turkwel hydroelectric plant and Lessos substation.
Alten is developing a similar project – Kesses 2 – in the same area, with a capacity of 40 MW, linked to a 132 kV transmission line that connects with Eldoret town.
Developers
Kesses Solar Power Station is owned by Alten EnergÃas Renovables, a European power firm with two other solar plants in Kenya – Kesses 2 and Kopere Solar.
Construction work was undertaken by Voltalia.
Power purchase agreement
The power generated from the Kesses Solar Power Station is sold to Kenya Power on a 20-year take-or-pay power purchase agreement.
Funding details
Kesses Solar Power Station was built at a cost of $87 million.
The project was financed by the Standard Bank of South Africa, Stanbic, and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF).
Standard Bank provided $41 million in debt comprising a term loan, Value Added Tax (VAT), and Debt Service Reserve facility.
On February 7, 2022, EAIF announced it had provided a $35 million loan over a 15-year term to finance the solar project.
The first instalment of the loan was released to Alten Kenya Solarfarms BV – the local subsidiary of Alten Group, in December 2021.
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