Forest regulator seeks investors for Ngong wind farm
A wind farm at Ngong Hills. Kenya Forest Service has zoned four blocks seen as high potential areas for leasing. File
What you need to know:
KFS is offering to lease 560 hectares of the Ngong Hills forest reserve to wind energy generators in a bid to raise conservation fees and enhance use of green and renewable sources of electricity.
It has zoned four blocks on the southern part of Ngong Hills as high potential areas for wind energy.
The Kenya Forest Service is seeking investors to develop and operate wind farms at Ngong Hills, estimated to generate more than 100 megawatts of power.
The state corporation is offering to lease 560 hectares of the Ngong Hills forest reserve to wind energy generators in a bid to raise conservation fees and enhance use of green and renewable sources of electricity.
KFS has zoned four blocks on the southern part of Ngong Hills, known as Corner Baridi, as high potential areas for wind energy and is inviting power firms to acquire the land for exploitation.
“Development of wind energy from forests is in line with our mandate of promoting sustainable management of forest resources and helps us raise funds for conservation,” said KFS director David Mbugua in an interview.
“We will negotiate licence and land leasing fees with firms that will be shortlisted,” said Mr Mbugua.
This is the second time since 2010 that KFS is soliciting for power generators to exploit wind energy at Ngong Hills, located about 30 kilometres southwest of Nairobi. Mr Mbugua said the corporation cancelled the earlier tender after lapsing.
KFS received 21 bids in the 2010 call for investors, and shortlisted five companies including KenGen and global firms from Spain and Belgium.
Promoting wind power will help cut reliance on wood and charcoal fuel which greatly contribute to deforestation.
A 2003 study by the Ministry of Energy and the Meteorological Department revealed that Kenya is endowed with massive wind power potential of up to 4,000 megawatts which remains largely unexploited.
The research produced a wind atlas that maps Ngong Hills, the coastal strip, Lake Turkana, and Marsabit as areas with high speed winds of more than 10 metres per second; making them ideal for wind farms.
Wind is considered a green and renewable source of energy as it does not pollute the atmosphere, is not affected by vagaries of weather and climate change, and qualifies for carbon credits.
Listed power producer KenGen operates a six-turbine wind farm in the northern part of Ngong Hills, which supplies 5.1 megawatts of power to the national grid.
Wind constitutes less than one per cent of the firm’s 1,231MW installed generating capacity.
KenGen, which accounts for 80 per cent of Kenya’s energy output, is diversifying to wind and all-weather sources such as geothermal, coal, and liquefied natural gas-fired thermal plants to reduce the exposure to hydro-dam fluctuation risks.
“We are studying it and consulting internally,” said KenGen in reply to a query by the Business Daily on whether the firm was considering taking up more blocks at Ngong for wind power generation.
KenGen plans to increase wind power generation at Ngong to 25.5 megawatts and has already received an interest-free Sh1.32 billion loan from Belgium and another credit line of Sh2.38 billion from the Spanish government to finance the project.
The power generator has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese firm Hydrochina International to carry out a feasibility study for the development of a 50 megawatt wind farm in Ngong Hills.
US conglomerate GE Energy also plans to build a Sh25 billion wind farm with an output of 150 megawatts in the same area.
Africa’s largest wind farm, the 300-megawatt Lake Turkana project, is set to be built in Loyangalani District, Marsabit County.
The Sh75 billion project is backed by the African Development Bank, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), and the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU).
