This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
Kenya's ambitious Lake Turkana Wind Power project, commissioned in 2019, is set to inject an additional 310.25 megawatts into the national grid, but its ripple effects on power costs may not be felt immediately.
According to Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd chairman Mugo Kibati, the project's impact on power costs will be gradual, with small-scale electricity consumers unlikely to enjoy reduced power costs in the short term.
"There are contracts between the investors and the government which must be honoured, because it's a huge investment and there is only one buyer — Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC)," Mr Kibati said during the project's commissioning.
He noted that the manufacturing sector, with its heavy consumption of energy, is the most ideal in this situation, and that the project's impact on power costs will be more pronounced when the economy grows and new, heavy and large-scale consumers come in.
Under the 20-year contract, Lake Turkana Wind Power will sell energy to Kenya Power at Sh9.90 per kilowatt-hour for the first six years and Sh8.92 per kilowatt-hour for the remaining 14 years, adjusted for inflation.
By the end of October, the facility will be generating 1.683 terawatt-hours of energy per year, and will sell the additional power to Kenya Power at 50 per cent of the tariff, bringing down their average tariffs considerably and trickling down to consumers.
