Lamu coal-fired power plant project, Kenya

21st June 2019

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name of the Project
Lamu coal-fired power plant project.

Location
Lamu County, Kenya.

Project Owner/s
The project is 51% owned by Nairobi-based Centum Investment, and is backed by General Electric’s so-called Ultra-Supercritical Clean Coal Technology.

Amu Power is the developer of the project.

Project Description
The project involves the construction of a 1 050 MW coal-fired power plant.

The power plant will generate almost 50% of Kenya's electricity capacity

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
The project will cost an estimated $2-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The plant is scheduled to start marketing the power in 2024.

Latest Developments
Electricity from a planned coal-fired plant in Lamu might cost ten times as much as its developers suggest, according to an energy group that wants the project cancelled.

Given the “realistic” costs of coal, electricity from the plant could sell for as much as $0.75/kWh on average, “more than ten times what the plant’s proponents have claimed,” Cleveland-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has said in a report. The coal plant could also slow the East African nation’s development of renewable-energy resources, IEEFA has said.

The current pricing estimates are based on outdated costs of imported coal and “optimistic assumptions of how much electricity the plant will generate,” according to the report. The power purchasing agreement would require payment of at least $360-million in yearly capacity charges even when the plant does not produce any power. “There is ample justification to cancel the entire project,” it has argued.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Gulf Energy, Centum Investment Company, Sichuan Electric Power Design & Consulting Company, Sichuan No 3 Power Construction Company and China Huadian Corporation Power Operation Company (construction contract).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Centum, tel +254 20 228 6000, fax +254 20 222 3223 or email info@centum.co.ke.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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