Sh10bn complex in Westlands to become Kenya’s largest electricity consumer besides factories.
At 12 MVA, the demand is twice Two Rivers mall’s and four times that of Garden City.
Currently, Two Rivers is the single largest electricity consumer, outside factories, after opening its doors last February.
A Chinese-owned 43-storey complex in Nairobi’s Westlands is set to overtake Two Rivers Mall as Kenya’s largest commercial consumer of electricity.
The Sh10 billion complex being constructed by Chinese State-owned manufacturing and real estate firm AVIC International will use more power than the combined demand for Two Rivers and Garden City malls in Nairobi.
The Chinese firm indicated to Kenya Power #ticker:KPLC a demand of 12 megavolt ampere (MVA), a downward revision from the initial 16 MVA it had earlier estimated, Kenya’s largest single demand outside factories.
At 12 MVA, the demand is twice Two Rivers mall’s and four times that of Garden City, according to Kenya Power records seen by the Business Daily.
Currently, Two Rivers is the single largest electricity consumer, outside factories, after opening its doors last February.
The AVIC, which is also involved in aerospace manufacturing, also has a 39 per cent stake in Two Rivers Mall, the largest shopping complex in East Africa.
The AVIC mega-complex in Westlands sits next to Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel and will comprise an office block, a hotel tower and four apartment blocks, offering a glimpse into its expected power needs.
American luxury hotel chain JW Marriott will run the 35-floor hotel expected to have 315 guest rooms and a 760 square-metre ballroom.
Electricity distributor Kenya Power requires greenfield investors to submit their expected power needs, including property space and equipment to ease planning on its part.
Construction of the AVIC complex started mid-2015 but suffered a brief halt after rival Kempinski went to court to stop the project. The injunction was later lifted.
Kenya has recently witnessed an explosion of mega property development, especially shopping malls that have attracted multinationals such as Carrefour keen to grab the growing base of middle-class shoppers.
AVIC International’s interests span industries such as aviation, electronics, hotel, trade and commodities, retail, and real estate and property sector.
Kenya on December 1 introduced discounted night-time electricity tariffs for large businesses and manufacturers as an incentive to spur investors into expanding their operations and create more jobs.
In the night-time tariffs, commercial users who are metered at between 450 volts and 11 kilovolts (kV) pay Sh4.60 per unit, down from Sh9.20, a 50 per cent discount.
Consumers metered at above 11 kV pay an energy charge of Sh4 per unit, from Sh8, while the rate for those consuming above 33 kV has been halved to Sh3.75.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
