GE Renewable Energy and GE Energy Financial Services will provide wind turbine and debt financing for Kipeto Energy’s 100-megawatt (MW) wind power project in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Kipeto Energy’s 100-megawatt (MW) wind power project, the second largest wind farm in Kenya, is located south of Nairobi, in Kajiado, Kenya.
GE Renewable Energy will provide 60 1.7-103 turbines and a 17km (220KV) transmission line to carry the power to Isinya substation in Kajiado County, providing power to the equivalent of approximately 40,000 homes in the region.
The 100MW Kipeto wind power project will provide clean energy to the national grid as a significant contribution to Kenya’s Vision 2030 and Big Four Agenda. The project is expected to reach commercial operation in 2020, said Peter Wells, GE’s Onshore Wind Regional Director for Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Kipeto wind power project, which reached financial close, is funded by equity from Actis and a Kenyan company, Craftskills Wind Energy International, alongside senior debt from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the United States government’s development finance institution (DFI), said Subha Nagarajan, managing director, GE EFS’ Global Capital Advisory.
GE Renewable Energy will also provide operations and maintenance services for the project. The project will create more than 400 jobs during the construction phase of the project and an additional 70 permanent jobs during the operational phase.