This archive report was first published on 9 December 2019.
Kenya's Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project, the country's largest private sector project, has attracted the attention of Google, the American multinational technology company.
According to Norfund, a Norwegian investment company with a 6% stake in the power plant, Google's interest in LTWP has been disclosed in their annual report.
Published in 2015, Google initially committed to invest in the farm but went silent. However, in a statement, Rick Needham, then Google's energy and sustainability director, said, 'Today, we're committing to invest in the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in Northern Kenya, our second clean energy investment in Africa. When complete, Lake Turkana will bring 310 megawatts of clean energy onto Kenya's grid—enough to power more than two million households across the country.'
Although no financial value was put on the investment, it was widely reported to be around $40 million. Google was expected to buy a 12.5% stake in Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems.
As one of the highest-profile corporate backers of wind and solar, Google claims to be the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally, primarily through power purchase agreements.
