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In Kenya, Alten Energías Renovables is expected to commission its 40 MW Kesses 1 solar PV plant in the spring this year. The company is currently constructing the facility outside of Eldoret in Kenya. It is located only 1km away from the existing Eldosol and Radiant solar plants of Frontier Energy, each equipped with a solar power generation capacity of 40 MW. Together, they form what is known as the Eldoret Solar City, and one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest solar complexes. Kesses 1 is notably financed by the Standard Bank of South Africa and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). Standard Bank is supplying $41 million in debt comprising a term loan, VAT and Debt Service Reserve facility. Meanwhile, the EAIF is providing a US$35 million loan over a 15-year term. “The first part of the loan was disbursed to Alten Kenya Solarfarms BV (Alten), the Kenyan business of the Alten Group, in late December 2021,” the EAIF said in a statement last week. Kesses 1 is being developed in parallel with the 50 MW Kopere Solar PV Plant located 60km away, as both projects are executed by the same contractor, Voltalia. Full details on the solar power plants within Kenya’s Eldoret Solar City are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.
ANDRITZ has announced today it received another order from Nigerian private power generating company Mainstream Energy Solutions (MESL) for the modernization of unit 2G5 at the 578.4 MW Jebba hydroelectric station in Nigeria. ANDRITZ was the original manufacturer for all six fixed blade (propeller) type runners at the hydropower plant, which was commissioned back in the 1980s. The technology group is now working with MESL on a general rehabilitation programme to extend Jebba’s life for the next 40 years and improve the plant’s reliability. In 2021, it had already been awarded a contract for the rehabilitation and life extension of unit 2G6. Jebba is one of two key hydroelectric stations that were privatized and are now operated by MESL under a Concession Agreement. The other facility, Kainji, is also undergoing rehabilitation and expansion. In December last year, MESL selected the Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation for rehabilitation works there, covering the rehabilitation of the Unit 1G9 (80 MW) and the installation of units 1G3 and 1G4 (110 MW each). Full details on the 760 MW Kainji hydropower plant and the 578.4 MW Jebba hydropower plant in Nigeria are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.
