KENYA has invited bids from investors to develop coal-and gas-powered plants to generate an additional 1,800MW.
The bids are being submitted to the ministry of energy and petroleum in Nairobi, ministry principal secretary Joseph Njoroge said.
He said successful investors would enjoy preferential incentives such as land and tax holidays as the government seeks to generate a further 5,000MW in the next four years.
The proposed 800MW natural gas power plant will be on a 120ha parcel of land at Dongo Kundu or any other appropriate location between Mombasa City and Kilifi along the Indian Ocean, Mr Njoroge said.
The other will be a 1,000MW coal plant in the coastal town of Lamu, the town that will host the Lamu port and transport project that will link South Sudan and Ethiopia through a railway line, roads and a pipeline.
Kenya does not produce the two resources and expects the plants’ operators to import them until proven deposits of the resources in Kenya start being mined. A natural gas resource has been confirmed offshore in Lamu and coal deposits have been confirmed in Mui Basin in eastern Kenya, but mining has been delayed by a revenue-sharing conflict between the Chinese miner and the community.
"We have been negotiating with Qatar, Nigeria and Tanzania for imports of natural gas. So we have varied options," Kenya’s chief geologist, John Omenge, said. Kenya will also be seeking coal imports from SA.
So far, General Electric (GE) and KenGen, a listed majority state-owned power-generation company, have expressed interest to develop the plants.
GE chief financial officer Thomas Konditi said it would set up a natural gas-powered plant to generate 900MW and is seeking to import the gas from Qatar or Nigeria. That particular plant, however, is not related to the current bids.
Kenya intends to fast-track power generation in the next four years to meet the expected demand from infrastructure projects like the Konza Technology City and the 500km electric-powered railway line.
Demand is also being driven by the growing manufacturing base, the projected 5.6% economic growth this year and rising new electricity connections, especially in rural areas.
Kenya’s generation capacity of 1,664MW is already under severe strain from peak demand of 1,410MW, forcing it to buy expensive thermal-powered generators. The ministry said it will fast-track issuance of power purchase agreements to encourage many new independent power producers to come on line.
