Amu Power, a company formed by a consortium of Centum and Gulf Energy, expressed their gratitude to the Kenyan Government for awarding them the tender, and further said that at least 870 acres of land are needed for the development of the 981.5 Megawatts coal project.

 

Gulf Energy Managing Director, Francis Njogu said they are currently waiting to be issued with the land where the construction will take place and they are anticipating that the land acquisition process will be completed before October this year.

 

The new coal power plant, which will be set up in Manda area in Lamu County, will be the biggest private sector-led infrastructure project in East and Central Africa and after construction, begins it will initiate operations within 21 months.

 

The development includes building of the power plant, a jetty and a housing complex that will house 300 workers. The company will build, own and operate the plant for 25 years. The project will lead to employment creation and will also support development of heavy industries including motor vehicle assembly, steel and iron smelting, food processing among others.

 

The coal power plant will rely on coal imports from South Africa at the rate of US$50 a tonne until coal production from Mui Basin in Kitui county starts.

 

The proposed 960MW Lamu coal-fired power plant is part of the government’s plans to generate 1,920MW of electricity from coal by December 2017 as part of the 5,000-plus MW plan.

Source : construction review online