Kenya Constructs Africa’s Largest Wind Farm with Danish Support

19 January 2016

Located in the Loyangalani district of Kenya, the 310MW Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is the single biggest wind farm being built in Africa. It represents Kenya's biggest ever private investment and thereby signals a new era for large scale renewable energy projects in Africa.

The wind farm, which will be fully operational in 2017, carries strong Danish fingerprints: Vestas provides the turbines and is a co-investor along with public and private funds from Danish Climate Investment Fund managed by IFU (Investment Fund for Developing Countries) and Denmark’s Export Credit Agency, EKF.

Public and private capital work together
The Lake Turkana project has a total investment of 620 million. euros (DKK 4.63 billion) and is the largest infrastructure investment in Kenya ever. The Danish Climate Investment Fund, that PensionDanmark co-founded, invests DKK 87 million of equity. EKF, Denmark’s Export Credit Agency, is simultaneously providing approximately 1 billion DKK in loan guarantees.

-Investments through the Danish Climate Investment Fund, where public and capital works together, delivers both attractive returns to our members and as well as benefits Danish companies. This investment in Africa's largest wind park is an excellent example thereof, says CEO Torben Möger Pedersen, PensionDanmark.

"It is an important milestone, we have reached, and I am really pleased that the Danish Climate Investment Fund contributes to delivering climate-friendly energy to aid Kenya's development," says Tommy Thomsen, CEO at IFU (Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries).

365 Wind Turbines from Vestas
The wind farm will consist of 365 turbines spread across 160 square kilometers in the northern part of Kenya, close to Lake Turkana. The wind conditions at the location are ideal, as a very strong and consistent wind sweeps through the area, which provides high capacity utilisation.

Due to the turbines’ - in a modern perspective - small size, it is Vestas' largest order ever in terms of number of turbines. As part of the construction of the project 200 km road have had to be built to transport Vestas turbines from Kenya's second largest city, Mombasa to Lake Turkana, where the wind farm is constructed 420m above sea level.

-Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd. has made a historic commitment to a clean energy future for Kenya, and we are very proud to play an active role in bringing to life Africa’s largest wind power plant,” says Christoph Vogel, President of Vestas Central Europe.

-Eastern and southern Africa are key markets for Vestas, and the Lake Turkana project will establish Kenya among the continent’s wind energy leaders.

Video from the Lake Turkana - Africa's largest wind farm.
Film produced by Jesper Heldgaard, Bo Jørgensen and Anders D. Christensen, Dansk AV Produktion, for the Danish Foreign Ministry.

310MW of clean energy to the Kenyan national grid
With average wind speeds in excess of 11 m/s, the Lake Turkana project will add 310 MW of clean, reliable electricity capacity to the Kenyan national grid. The project will generate more than 1,400 GWh of power per year, equivalent to approximately 15 per cent of the country’s current electricity consumption.

The wind farm will be located approximately 1,200 km from the Kenyan port of Mombasa and therefore requires the building of more than 420 km of transmission lines to reach the Kenyan national electricity grid.

The area around the site has a unique geographical phenomenon with strong, predictable wind streams between the desert hinterland and Lake Turkana. The project site was selected for its world-class wind resources as well as its sparse population.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / PensionDanmark / Vestas Wind Systems A/S