Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project has been awarded the Thomson Reuters Project Finance International (PFI) African Renewable Deal Award 2014.
The award was presented at the PFI awards dinner gala at The Hilton, Park Lane, London. It was received by the chairman of the LTWP project Mugo Kibati, a director Carlo Van Wageningen, and members of the entire project team.
Attended by over 600 of the world’s most senior project finance professionals, the PFI awards are widely acknowledged as the premier event in the global project finance calendar and the awards go to the companies that have demonstrated outstanding performance and commitment.
The LTWP project is the largest single wind power project to be constructed in Africa and is, to date, the largest private investment in the history of Kenya and arguably one of the most complex and challenging project financing undertaken in the renewable energy space in sub-Saharan Africa.
The project is a key deliverable under the Government’s commitment to scaling up electricity generation to 5,000MW and is a flagship project within the Vision 2030 program.
The LTWP project will provide cost effective renewable power to the Kenyan consumer.
The wind farm site, covering 40,000 acres (162km2), is located in Loyangalani District, Marsabit West County, in north-eastern Kenya, approximately 50km north of South Horr Township.
The project will comprise 365 wind turbines (each with a capacity of 850 kW), the associated overhead electric grid collection system and a high voltage substation.
The project also includes upgrading of the existing road from Laisamis to the wind farm site, which is partly financed by the Dutch Government and is a distance of approximately 204km.
In addition, the project will build an access road network in and around the site for construction, operations and maintenance. The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (Ketraco), with concessional funding from the Spanish Government, is constructing a double circuit 400kV, 428km transmission line to deliver the LTWP electricity along with power from other future plants to the national grid.
