Kenyan utility kicks off tender for small solar parks

Kenya-based energy company KTDA Power Company (KTPC) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the largest tea business in East Africa, Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Holdings, has launched a tender to seek independent power producers (IPPs) for the construction of a series of small-sized solar parks.

The projects are expected to have a capacity ranging from 300 to 1,000 kW and are intended at powering KTDA’s factories located across Kenya. “A typical factory with an installed capacity of 600 kW solar PV can have annual daytime demand of 1,594,172 kWh, which is about 50% of the total demand,” KTDA specified in the expression of interest issued to pre-qualify potential developers. “The intention is to aggregate between five and ten projects which the successful IPP will then develop.”

Interested IPPs will have time until March 30 to express their interest.

Another Kenyan utility, Nyahururu Water and Sanitation Company (Nyahuwasco), kicked-off a tender for the construction of a solar power plant at one of its water treatment facilities in mid-February. A few weeks earlier, Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) issued a tender to add solar and wind power generators to 23 existing diesel mini-grids across the country.

By the end of 2019, Kenya’s total installed solar capacity stood at 95 MW, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Only 2 MW of PV was newly deployed last year.