Kenya Lauches Largest Wind Power Plant in Africa

Kenya has officially launched Africa's largest wind power generation plant in an effort to meet an ambitious goal of 100% green energy by 2020. 

The plant, known as the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), will generate around 310 megawatts of power to the national grid and will increase the country’s electricity supply by 13%, President Uhuru Kenyatta said at the launch of the project on Friday. The electricity from LTWP is said to not only be clean, but also low-cost and reliable. 

LTWP is powered by the Turkana corridor wind, a low-level jet stream originating from the Indian Ocean and blows all year round, according to a government statement.

At the same time, the President commissioned the 428 kilometre high voltage power transmission line as well as the upgrading of Loyangalani to South Horr road. The double circuit 1,200 megawatt capacity line constructed by the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) evacuates the electricity generated at the plant to Suswa where it is injected into the national grid.

In the last eight months, the wind power project has saved Kenyans more than Shs 8 billion from reduced usage of the expensive diesel generated thermal power. Over the same period, the plant injected more than 1.2 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity.

Today, we again raised the bar for the continent as we unveil Africa’s single largest wind farm,” Kenyatta said, adding, “Kenya is without doubt on course to be a global leader in renewable energy.”

Header Image Credit: Bloomberg