Sosian Energy, which is linked to the family of the late President Daniel arap Moi, is one of five firms seeking to build wind power projects with a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) in Marsabit County in what looks set to increase the country’s electricity surplus.
A letter by Energy Principal Secretary, Alex Wachira, shows the firm is seeking to build a 50MW wind farm alongside State-owned KenGen. The others are Gitson Energy, Kenya Mudhe Wind Power and Portuguese firm Ignite Energy Company.
Marsabit County hosts the biggest wind power farm in Africa, the 310MW plant owned by Lake Turkana Wind Power, making it a significant contributor to the national grid.
The combined capacity of the proposed plants will be 26.9 percent of the country’s current total installed capacity that was 3,713.4 MW as at June last year. Peak demand stands at 2,177.13MW. “As agreed in the deliberations, the table herewith provides a list of existing and proposed projects within Marsabit County,” Mr Wachira says in the letter.
KenGen’s plant will have a capacity of 300MW, similar to that of Gitson Energy and Kenya Mudhe Wind Power while Ignite Energy is planning a 50MW facility.
Marsabit County is touted as the best region to host wind power plants in Kenya, given the strong and steady wind speeds— averaging 11.4 metres per second — all year round.
Wind accounted for 15.1 percent or 1,271.42 Gigawatt-hours in the grid in the eight months to February.
