NAIROBI – Kenya will negotiate the import of natural gas from Qatar Gas to fuel a power station it wants built in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa, the President's office said on Tuesday.
The gas-powered power plant was part of the government's plans to add 5 000 MW to Kenya's existing 1 664 MW generation capacity by 2017 to accelerate economic growth, which was expected to push Kenya's power demand up to 15 000 MW by 2030.
The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum was evaluating bids from investors interested in developing the 700MW to 800 MW natural gas-fired plant near Mombasa, as well as a 900 MW to 1 000 MW coal-power plant at Lamu.
The announcement was made during a visit by President Uhuru Kenyatta to Qatar.
"The President noted that Kenya Pipeline had already signed a non-disclosure agreement with Qatar Gas to start negotiation for the supply of one-million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas to Kenya to power the 700-MW gas plant in the port city of Mombasa." Kenyatta's press office said in a statement.
The statement provided no further details on when the negotiations were expected to start.
The Nairobi government wanted to halve the cost of electricity within three to four years from between $0.17/KWh and $0.18/KWh hour, mainly by increasing supply from cheaper energy sources and phasing out diesel generation.