As part of President Obama’s Power Africa initiative, the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development
finance institution, announced that it committed $233 million in debt
financing to support construction and operation of the Kipeto Wind Power
Project in Kajiado, Kenya.
The 100-megawatt, grid-connected wind power facility located south of
Nairobi will be, when complete, one of the first utility-scale wind
projects to come online in Kenya, where over 75 percentREW_Welsp of the
population still lack access
to reliable electricity. Situated in an area with strong, consistent
wind currents, the Kipeto project will provide cleaner and more reliable
energy to Kenya’s national grid, helping to further bolster the
country’s growing economy.
Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of OPIC, signed a commitment
letter of OPIC’s debt finance support alongside Jurie Swart, CEO of
African Infrastructure Investment Managers. Littlefield was in Nairobi
with President Obama as part of the U.S. delegation to the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
OPIC’s financing to the Kipeto Wind Power Project also demonstrates
the institution’s continuing role in fulfilling President Obama’s Power Africa initiative,
which seeks to add more than 30,000 megawatts of cleaner, more
efficient electricity generation capacity as well as increased power
access with 60 million new connections throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
The Kipeto project is being developed in partnership with African
Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Power Africa’s 100 private sector partners
and fund advisor to African Infrastructure Investment Fund 2, Kenyan
independent power producer Craftskills Wind Energy International, Ltd,
and the International Finance Corporation. Craftskills initially began
development of this project in collaboration with General Electric in
2010.
“Kipeto is a transformative project for many reasons, principally for
the clean and reliable energy it will supply to Kenyan citizens,” said
Elizabeth Littlefield. “It will be one of Kenya’s first utility-scale
wind projects and can contribute more than 20 percent of residential
power consumption at current usage rates. Our commitment to Kipeto is
also a significant step in OPIC’s pledge to President Obama’s Power
Africa Initiative. OPIC is proud to support the Kipeto project and its
role in advancing Kenya’s economic prosperity.” "Power Africa's support of this important energy project reflects the
United States' ongoing commitment to scale up access to electricity and
mobilize investment in Kenya," said U.S.
Ambassador to Kenya Robert
Godec.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/07/100-mw-kenyan-wind-farm-will-help-power-africa.html
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