- The Kipeto Wind Power Project located at Esilanke area on the foothills of Ngong Hills in Kajiado county of Kenya has completed the installation of 60 wind turbines.
- The turbines were supplied by US multinational GE Renewables (GE).
- The wind farm is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of year.
- The site is situated southwest of Nairobi on a 70km2 area of land.
- The project is the second largest of its kind in East Africa after the 310 MW Lake Turkana Wind Power project. Read more
The Kipeto project, originally developed by Craftskills, a Kenyan developer and minority equity shareholder, will supply the Kenya Power under a 20-year power purchase agreement which was signed back in 2015.
China Machinery Engineering Corporation was originally contracted to perform engineering design, procurement and construction of the wind farm at a contract price of over USD 212M. Read more
In October 2018 the sole project financier, the US Government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), along with the project sponsor, Actis, requested the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to provide a 10-year standby revolving and on-demand insurance cover the project against the risk of payment delays by the national off-taker. Read more
In December 2018, Actis LLP acquired the equity interests of both the IFC and the AIIM to become the largest shareholder of the Kipeto wind power project. In the same year, the project reached financial close and GE was contracted to supply 60 GE 1.7-103 wind turbines for the farm.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
