KENYA – A 1.5 MWp solar photovoltaic project at Kiamariga village in Nyeri County, the central region of Kenya has reached its financial close following a US$355,000 equity investment by the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP).
REPP is a UK government-funded program dedicated to sponsoring/supporting renewable energy development projects, particularly in the growing economies such as sub-Saharan Africa.
Earlier on, Sunref which is the green finance label of the French Development Agency (AFD) supporting local banks in allocating green credit in favorable conditions i.e (low-interest rates, long tenor, grace period) for tailored made debt, granted US$1.8 million through the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, to help fund the implementation of the project.
REPP’s grant will enable Astonfield Solar, an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) company that provides captive solar solutions to industrial and corporate clients in Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, and India, to ramp up the implementation of the project which is expected to become one of the East African country’s privately owned grid-connected solar power plants.
The developer, Marco Borero Company, has already signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to supply electricity to the state-owned Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC) once the plant is operational. The project is expected to come online by the end of December this year.
According to REPP, the project other than creating job opportunities in the locality and adding to the national electricity capacity, it is also expected to contribute to Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), that takes a low emission and climate-resilient development pathway, with ambitious mitigation geared towards reducing country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 % come 2030.
Furthermore, the project will also contribute to local capacity building with the first promoter, who wants to develop a pipeline of renewable energy projects in the region.
Nyeri solar PV project is proposed to be located just North of the Nyeri town in Nyeri County, approximately 40Km north of Nyeri town project will utilize Natural Solar Energy using solar power technology directly connected to the National grid without storage, and have the capability to produce a nominal 10 megawatts (MW) of energy.
The project will help meet the increasing demand for clean, renewable electrical energy in the Kenya and help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and associated costs.
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