The anticipated Meru Wind Farm Project is set to kick off soon following the approval of funding, by the government through collaboration with Japan.
After a state visit to Japan President William Ruto secured Sh15 billion for the project aimed at boosting growth in the region.
Joshua Mungania, Chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Meru expressed appreciation to President Ruto for addressing the countys energy needs proactively.
“We are open to all investors in Meru. The Sh15 billion power project will bring changes in terms of job opportunities and infrastructure ” he mentioned.
The Meru Wind Power Project is anticipated to be Kenyas pioneering renewable energy facility, which has been in planning stages for years but faced delays due to financial constraints.
Completion date
A hybrid renewable energy plant typically combines sources such, as wind, solar PV and battery storage to produce electricity. The construction of the Meru Wind Farm was initially planned to start in 2020 with operations expected by 2024; however this timeline was not met.As, per the investors involved in the project Meru Wind Park is set to deliver around 80 megawatts (MW) of sustainable energy. It will comprise 20 wind turbines and over 40,000 solar panels.
Scope
The aim is to provide electricity for than 200,000 households. The wind farm will be established through a partnership between the private sectors. Once operational part of the project will be owned by the Meru County Government via the Meru County Investment and Development Corporation (MCIDC).
The electricity produced by this initiative will be sold to Kenya Power as per a power purchase agreement although details of this agreement have not been disclosed yet.
Eurus Energy Holdings, MCIDC and Windlab Pty Limited jointly own the Meru Wind Farm Project with each having a 33.33% stake in it.
Eurus Energy, a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation specializes in forms of energy generation such as wind and solar photovoltaic.
In contrast Windlab introduces modeling and wind energy evaluation technology initially created by CSIRO, in Australia.
This Australia based energy company takes pride in creating Kennedy Energy Park. Touted as the worlds scale hybrid renewable energy project. Into reality.
In August 2019 the Kenyan Investment Authority (KenInvest) MCIDC and the investors signed a memorandum of understanding, in Japan to move forward with the project focusing on capacity building and sharing knowledge.
“We are thrilled to introduce cutting edge innovations in energy and project development expertise, to Meru County, Kenya ” expressed Roger Price, Windlabs CEO.
Hideyuki Inazumi, representing Eurus Energy mentioned that the Meru County Energy Project will stand as one of their ventures in the area.
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