Centum mulls 28MW solar farm for Vipingo real estate plan

Centum plans to put up a 23-megawatt solar power plant to supply electricity to a mixed-use real estate project to be constructed in Vipingo, Kilifi County.

The Nairobi-bourse listed firm said works on the solar farm, whose cost is still unknown, will start once it gets a power generation and distribution licence from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Centum is building the development on a 10,254 acre land the firm purchased last year from Rea Vipingo Holdings — a sisal plantation firm that sold part of its land as it de-listed from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The investment firm will be seeking shareholders’ approval to form a special purpose vehicle dubbed Rea Power Co. to generate and distribute power within the proposed development at Vipingo.

“We are currently at design phase and will submit the application for licence in due course. The generated power will largely be solar,” Centum told the Business Daily.

“We are currently at design phase for the infrastructure (including power) and will determine the cost at the end of this process. We anticipate commencing developing the property this year subject to obtaining the requisite approvals,” the company said.

The firm will also lay the necessary power infrastructure such as substations and cable wires in the planned developmet.

READ: Centum’s Rea Vipingo coastal city deepens foray into real estate

Centum is replicating a model it applied at the upcoming Two Rivers Mall — tipped to be Kenya’s biggest on completion — where it set up a 12-megawatt solar- diesel hybrid power plants to supply the development.

Actis-owned Garden City Mall along Nairobi’s Thika Road launched a similar solar carport last September which generates power to light the shopping complex.

The Vipingo project includes an industrial zone where firms will be allotted 20-acre plots to set up their operations.

About 7,000 square metres of commercial space is planned in the first phase. Centum plans to put up infrastructure on 900 acres of land at a cost of Sh794.3 million in the first phase of the project.

Centum has divided the Vipingo land to include residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, and public zones.  A vocational training institute will be established at the Vipingo facility, Centum said.

The company plans to purify sea water through a reverse osmosis process to produce three million litres of drinking water for residents in the first phase of the project. Centum is banking on the reliability of generating its own cheaper power to attract industrial and other commercial investors.

Power from the solar plant will be connected to the national grid. The firm also bets on Vipingo’s proximity to the Mombasa port, Moi International Airport and the bustling Mtwapa town to appeal to investors and homebuyers.

Centum snapped up the extensive sisal farm from Rea Vipingo last year at a cost of Sh2 billion.