Exporting of power into the Kenyan national grid has commenced from the 52MWp Malindi Solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, developed by the British firm Globeleq and its project partner, Africa Energy Development Corporation (AEDC).
The $69Million solar facility is located in Langobaya, Malindi District, Kilifi County, about 120 kms north-east of Mombasa and started construction in 2019.
Electricity is being sold through a 20-year agreement with the national distribution company, Kenya Power. The project also includes the construction of a new 220 kV Weru substation which has already been handed over to Kenya Power and is now a part of the national grid infrastructure.
The plant is constituted of 157,000 photovoltaic panels. It is one of the first IPP owned utility scale solar plants in Kenya and the only renewable power plant located in the country’s coastal area (of Lamu and Mombasa).
“The Malindi Solar plant is our tenth operational solar PV plant in Africa”, declares Mike Scholey, CEO of Globeleq. “It cements our unique position as a leader in large scale solar generation”.
The company claims that the plant is delivering enough clean and renewable power to supply approximately 250,000 residential customers and will avoid 44,500 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions annually.
The Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), the UK’s development finance institution, was the lead arranger of financing for the project, which involved $52Million in debt financing including $20Million from DEG, the German development finance institution.
