Centum Kenya Retains Lamu Power Project After Bid Challenge

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--After surviving a challenge by a rival consortium, Centum Investment Limited (Nairobi, Kenya) is to start work on a coal-fired power plant in Lamu, Kenya, on the Indian Ocean coast.

According to Industrial Info, the plant will have a 1,000-megawatt (MW) capacity and a total investment value of $1.2 billion.

Centum won bidding for the project in a consortium with Gulf Energy (Oman) in September 2014, but the award of the tender was challenged by a rival consortium: HCIG-Liketh, which is held by Hebei Construction Investments (Shijiazhuang, China) and Liketh Investments (Centurion, South Africa).

A tribunal recently ruled in favor of the Centum-Gulf Energy consortium. The result was reached after a pointed exchange of claims between the two parties concerning rule-bending and partner-switching.

The power plant will generate nearly 50% of Kenya's electricity when completed in mid-2018.

After news of the resolution of the bid challenge Centum's shares rose 10% on the local bourse. "We will now work hard to recover the time lost since the award of the tender," Chief Executive James Mworia said.

For related information, see September 4, 2014, article - Kenya-Led Consortium to Build 1,000-Megawatt Coal-Fired Plant with Chinese.

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