GE Moves on Wind Projects in Kenya, Targets 1,000 Megawatts in Two Years

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) is planning to invest about $100 million in the construction of two wind power projects in Kenya over the next year.

The projects will be constructed in the Rift Valley town of Kinangop and will have a combined capacity of about 150 megawatts (MW), which will be fed to the national grid.

Jay Ireland, GE's president for Africa, said that the company is currently engaging the Kenyan government in negotiations over the required power purchase agreement (PPA) before the project gets off the ground. The national power distributor Kenya Power is representing the government.

Ireland said that negotiations, centering on the PPA, were at a very advanced stage and the groundbreaking on the project could come as early as the beginning of 2013. If the project goes according to schedule, it could be completed by the end of 2013.

The success of this first power project will inform the company's plan to set up other projects toward producing some 1,000 MW over the next two years.

GE is looking at other investment opportunities in Kenya, including the railway sector, where the company will be working in conjunction with Rift Valley Railways (RVR). Ireland said the aim, with RVR, was to build the requisite capacity to provide high-class locomotives, among other material.

"This is one area we have a lot of specialty as a company through the GE Transportation arm," he said.

GE is also involved in other sectors in Kenya, including health, water and aviation, in partnership with the government and other entities. The increased investment in Kenya follows a meeting GE had with the government in 2010. This was spearheaded by Prime Minister Rail Doing on how the company could employ its experience to help solve Kenya's infrastructure challenges.

GE currently operates in 35 countries in Africa, including Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.

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