The European Investment Bank will contribute €113 million to a geothermal plant expansion in Kenya among other commitments that include an investment in the East African nation’s grid.
A letter of intent was signed for the EIB to support the addition of a new 70MW turbine at the Olkaria geothermal plant in the Eastern Rift Valley, as well as the construction of associated wells and steam-gathering systems.
Separately, the EIB pledged a €60 million loan to the so-called Last Mile Connectivity project, which will join nearly 300,000 Kenyan households to the national electricity grid.
EIB representatives also intend to visit the 365-turbine Lake Turkana Wind Park development, which the bank helped finance in 2014 and is expected to enter commissioning in the second half of the year.
“Kenya is increasingly becoming a hub for the region on many levels,” EIB Vice President Pim van Ballekom said.
“We as a bank must look at this from a very basic point of view, namely that there is a young and growing population with enormous potential, and that you need investments to support that momentum, both directly and indirectly.”
Image: Lake Turkana in Kenya (SXC)
Europe backs Kenyan geothermal
EIB to contribute €113M to Olkaria plant expansion in Eastern Rift Valley
By EBS