Africa is home to the second largest population on earth of just over one billion people yet 500 million people lack access to reliable and clean energy. Aging and costly infrastructure accounts for much of the inefficiencies. In Sub-Saharan Africa, only 25% of the population has access to electricity compared to half in South Asia and more than 80 percent in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. The hill for Africa is clearly steep but countries, such as Kenya, are looking towards wind power as a cheaper and cleaner solution to their energy deficit.<\/p>\n
The Lake Turkana Wind Power<\/a> project \u2013 otherwise known as LTWP, has been in the works for nine years. It is a symbol of success for the public private model and international co-operation that spans several countries including African multilaterals, the European Union, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, the U.K. and the U.S. Once completed, it will be the largest single wind farm in Africa with a capacity of 300 MW that will plug a power supply shortfall in Kenya, offer cheaper electricity to the masses, and it could very well point the way for the future of energy projects in Africa.<\/p>\n After some fits and starts \u2013 the most notable being the World Bank\u2019s decision not to participate in the project in 2012 \u2013 the LTWP<\/a> could easily have died if not for the commitment of the Kenyan government, the African Development Bank and the private companies leading the charge \u2013 namely Aldwych International Limited and KP&P Africa B.V.<\/p>\n The group was motivated by the clear demand for energy by Kenya\u2019s 44 million residents, where less than 25% have access to clean and reliable electricity. The goal was to provide one-fifth or 20% of the country\u2019s current installed power capacity of 1,664MW using wind energy, which will power 1.2 to 1.3 million households providing 190 to 200 MW of energy per year. The project is also expected to provide two key savings. First, the country will save $150 million annually in foreign currency and fuel adjust costs that appear on electricity bills due to the increased use of thermal power.<\/p>\n With the African Development Bank\u2019s considerable weight as the senior debt lead arranger and partial risk guarantor, they helped secure funding agreements for the $800 million project with nearly a dozen financiers including EIB<\/a> (the European Investment Bank), FMO, Standard Bank of South Africa, Nedbank, PTA Bank<\/a>, DEG and America\u2019s development finance institution \u2013 OPIC. The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) provided insurance support to some banks and Adlwych international. The final funding tally cemented another record for the project as the largest private investment ever made in the history of Kenya.<\/p>\n The largest equity investor Aldwych International Limited plays a central role in the LTWP. They are the co-developers who will oversee the construction and the operations of the project, which is expected to begin producing power in mid 2016. As one of the founding fathers, they formed LTWP to develop, finance, build and operate a wind farm in Marsabit County, approximately 10 km east of Lake Turkana in north-eastern Kenya.<\/p>\n The project consists of wind turbine generators, an electrical collection network and substation and infrastructure development that includes road rehabilitation. The project will feed the renewable power generated into Kenya\u2019s national grid under a 20-year take or pay Power Purchase Agreement with the Kenya Power (KP). The government, through KP, formally committed to constructing a 436kV overhead transmission line from the project to a new sub-station located 90km north of Nairobi which will provide the primary source of demand for grid electricity supply.<\/p>\n