KenGen receives Sh7.4 billion funding for energy plant

4 May 2011

A leading Kenyan energy firm has secured a Sh7.4 billion (£53.6 million) loan to finance the construction of a new 280-megawatt geothermal energy plant.

KenGen will receive the cash in a deal between Germany's development bank KfW and other donors including the World Bank.

The plant is being built in an attempt to deal with the nation's energy crisis which has been further highlighted by rising prices and dropping electricity reserves, Business Daily Africa reports.

Completion of the facility is expected in 2013, with the project designed to cushion the country from the risk of a power shortfall amid rising demand.

The new power plant will also help cool prices that have been rising as the country turns to expensive fuel-driven generation to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

"We have to move fast to balance out the hydro sources with renewable energy to ease our power demand during drought and avoid the expensive thermal sources," said KenGen's managing director Eddy Njoroge.

Category: Energy