KenGen has just recently started accepting the feasibility study applications for the establishment of the 40MW Kamburu Floating Solar Photovoltaic which is being financed by a German institution. A tender was kicked off by KenGen in the month of October which called for consultancy services to pitch the application of feasibility studies. This floating solar project is located at the 94MW-generating Kamburu Dam situated in the southern part of the country.
The German Development Bank (KfW) has set aside a particular amount of funds to allow the development of the Kamburu Floating Solar Photovoltaic project. The tender documents of the project also indicated that the acquiring of funds to allow the execution of the project could be sourced from other financial institutions such as the World Bank, AFD, and other money-lending institutions. The floating solar project is anticipated to be executed in a time frame of approximately eight months and be accorded a power purchase agreement (PPA).
Kamburu Floating Solar Photovoltaic Consultancy Services
According to the tender documents, KenGen was in search of consultancy services three years ago to allow them develop floating solar photovoltaic projects at Kamburu Dam, Turkwel and Kiambere. The tender documents also pointed out that a recommendation of coming up with a 40MW Kamburu Floating Solar Photovoltaic plant at Kamburu Dam as a result of the minimal water variation at the dam, a design that is less complicated, and availability of good infrastructure which entails the good road and grid network, the low costs of O&M and the affordable permitting costs that have been brought about by KenGen ownership.
As for now, KenGen has embarked on the establishment of a 40MW utility-scale photovoltaic array that is mounted on the ground at the Seven Forks Cascade, adjacent to Kamburu. The indicated deadline for the project application is on December 15, 2023. Recently, Kenya got to record approximately 307MW of solar installed capacity by the end of the previous year. This statistics were revealed by the International Renewable Energy Association.
