Chinese consortium to connect Turkana project to the grid

The bid for the contract to complete the connection between the Lake Turkana Wind Power project and the grid has been won by a consortium made up of Chinese companies.

NARI Group Corporation and Power China Guizhou Engineering Company won the tender for Sh9.6bn (US$94.3mn).

The contract, signed 30 January, agrees that the project is to be complete by 31 August this year, with a fine of Sh1.3bn ($12.8mn) per month that it is not complete.

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According to the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) – who signed the deal with the consortium – the transmission line is currently 70% complete, and will reach 428km once finished.

“The government is discussing with the developers to work with the new August 31 timeline, not June. That’s why the contractors have committed to pay the fines themselves should there be delays of their making,” stated Fernanded Barasa, Managing Director of KETRACO.

The companies won the bid following the termination of a Spanish firm’s contract for the transmission line due to debt and liquidity challenges.