Kipeto Energy PLC says it has successfully completed installation of all the 60 Wind Turbine Generators in the Kipeto wind farm in Kenya, effectively bringing to completion construction work on the project which kicked off in 2018.

Once operational, Kipeto, located in Kajiado county, as the country’s second largest wind farm will supply 100MW of clean energy to the national grid as a significant contribution to Kenya’s Vision 2030 and Big Four Agenda.

China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) won the tender to build the project under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model.

Financiers of the project include US government via the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) which committed to provide USD 233 million in senior debt to fund construction alongside approximately USD 88 million of equity from shareholders Actis (88%) and Craftskills Wind Energy International (CWEIL) (12%).

“We are very proud of all our teams,and stakeholders who worked tirelessly toward achievement of this goal,despite the current global Covid-19 crisis,” the company saids in a statement.

The Kipeto wind project was originally conceived by Craftskills Wind Energy International, with support from General Electric (“GE”). AIIM and IFC InfraVentures co-developed the project with Craftskills from 2014 until early 2018, executing a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Kenya Power and Lighting in 2016.

Established in 2009, Kipeto Energy PLC (KEP) has been developing the Kipeto Wind Energy Project, with the aim of supplying 100 megawatts (MW) of clean renewable energy to the national grid.

The project will construct 60 wind turbines, and a 17 km 220kV transmission line to evacuate the power to lsinya substation, in Kajiado County.

Kenya continues to invest in renewable energy as it seeks to expand its energy portfolio and address power shortage in the country.

Last year Kenya inaugurated Africa’s biggest wind power plant, a mammoth project in a gusty stretch of remote wilderness-Lake Turkana Wind Farm.

The $680-million project, a sprawling 365-turbine wind farm on the eastern shores of Lake Turkana, is delivering 310 megawatts of renewable power to the national grid of East Africa’s most dynamic economy.

The country also recently launched the biggest solar power plant in East Africa with a capacity of 50MWp. Garissa Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant was completed by the China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Co-operation (CJIC).

The plant consists of 200,200 solar panels connected to inverters and installed on an area of 85 hectares.