First 132MW power from wind farm ready November

Developers of Lake Turkana Wind Power Project have installed 155 turbines to generate the first 132 megawatts (MW) of cheaper electricity but delays in the transmission line will hamper transportation to consumers.

The construction of the turbines started in March with the wind farm’s substation set to be completed end of this month, making the electricity ready for use from November. 

But the government has delayed building the transmission line connecting to the national grid due to land compensation hiccups, denying consumers early cheap wind power.

Electricity from the Sh69.7 billion (€623 million) wind farm, the largest in Africa, will cost Sh8.6 per unit (8.5 US cents), nearly a third of diesel-generated power.

“In principle we will be ready to dispatch the power end of this month,” said Phylip Leferink, the general manager of Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd – the developers.

READ: Power consumers to pay Sh700m fine on delayed Turkana grid connection

The wind farm in the northern town of Marsabit has a full capacity of 310MW to be generated by 365 turbines by July next year, enough to power one million homes.

The first 132MW is nearly thrice the 50MW that the company expected to be ready by end of last September, indicating the project is ahead of schedule.

Each turbine has a capacity of 0.85MW, bringing the project’s total capacity to 310.25MW.

This accounts for a 13.2 per cent of Kenya’s total power capacity of 2,333MW.

The delayed 428km high-voltage transmission line was approved in August 2014 but has been hit by land compensation headwinds in the areas it traverses like Nyandarua, Laikipia and Marsabit

Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco), which is overseeing the construction of the line, expects to complete the exercise by end of December.

Failure to complete the transmission line by January next year will attract a monthly fine of Sh700 million to be paid by consumers through their bills to the developers.