China funds to set up 40MW solar power park

China-backed investment management company Enara Capital plans to set up a 40-megawatt (MW) solar power park in Kenya with estimated investment running into billions, a top executive at the power generation company said last week.

Founder and chairman of Enara Group Sherif EL Gabaly, said in an interview that the Kenya project will be implemented alongside similar solar plants with a total capacity of 130MW—including 50MW in Kazakhstan, and 40MW in Saudi Arabia.

The renewable energy-focused firm said it aims to launch 800MW of renewable power plants within five years inside and outside Egypt.

He did not provide timelines for the Kenya plant and how much the plant is worth. Enara Capital had not responded to questions seeking additional queries by press time.

The firm says on its website it serves as “the exclusive Investment management and project development partner of Chinese renowned Utility and Power conglomerates across the emerging markets.”

These are Xinte Energy and TBEA Group. “(They have) a pipeline of $2 billion (about Sh200 billion) of renewable projects under development across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Guinea and Nigeria,” says Enara on its website in a regulatory notice.

The firm joins a number of foreign firms eyeing solar plants in Kenya within the next five years.

Early this year, Kenya-based French solar firm Alten Africa picked renewable energy firm Voltalia to build its 40-megawatt (MW) solar plant in Eldoret.

Alten said Voltalia has already started construction at the Uasin Gishu project last December.

The Kesses power plant added to the many electricity projects that have been started or are planned as the country races to raise output to 5,000MW and cut the cost of electricity to consumers by half.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration targets universal electricity access by 2020.up from 70 percent in 2017.