Landmark $1bn Wind Farm in Lake Turkana Nears Switch-On

Winds rush across northwest Kenya’s desert landscape, streaming through the Rift Valley at speeds well over 20 metres per second (m/s). However, building a first wind farm to harness this rich resource has been anything but straightforward — despite being just the sort of mega-infrastructure that international development organisations believe is needed to help Africa unleash its vast economic potential.

The 310MW Lake Turkana project, first envisaged in the late 1990s, is finally in the home stretch to switch-on, having been confronted by regular setbacks throughout its long and arduous development, starting from early opposition from local tribes over land access and almost ending with the shock withdrawal of financial backing from the World Bank in October 2012.

These were only the “non-technical” matters. The key challenge for the wind farm, which will one day meet 18% of Kenya’s electricity demand, has been its formidable logistics. Mombasa port, where the components for the 365 Vestas V52 turbines have been arriving from China, is 1,300km away along rural roads — requiring a five- or six-day convoy journey to the 161sq km lakeshore site.

http://www.rechargenews.com/wind/1208333/landmark-usd-1bn-wind-farm-in-kenyan-desert-nears-switch-on

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