Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), Africa’s largest wind power plant, is currently in a position to produce up to 33 per cent of its expected target of 310 MW ahead of the 2017 deadline, officials said on Tuesday.
The firm’s General Manager, Phylip Leferink, said the remaining 20 turbines had already been delivered on site.
“A total of 347 out of 365 turbines had already been erected, a clear indication that the project is on course for completion as per its original plan by June.
“Assembling of the turbines began in March 2016 and all 365 are expected to be up and running by June.
“The total cost of the project is estimated at 700 million dollars,’’ Leferink said in a statement.
He added that the firm targets to have an annual generation capacity of 1.6 billion kilowatt hour (kWh), with the tariff rate set at 8.6 Kenyan shillings per kWh.
“A double circuit 400-kV, 438-km transmission line is currently being constructed by Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO).
“The line will evacuate the electricity from the 40,000-acre wind farm to the national grid via the Suswa sub-station.
“On completion, the Marsabit-based wind firm, which is arguably the biggest wind farm on the continent, will produce enough energy to power an additional 1 million Kenyan households,’’ he said.
According to him, once Lake Turkana Wind Power is fully operational, it will add 310 MW of renewable generation capacity to Kenya’s grid.
Report says Kenya, which relies heavily on renewables such as geothermal and hydro-power, aims to expand installed capacity to about 6,700 MW by 2017, up from 1,700 MW in 2013.
(Source: Xinhua/NAN)
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