Renewable energy has long been presented as the solution to creating sustainable renewable energy sources in light of the worsening climate change.
Meru, one of the 47 counties in Kenya, will soon be the home of Africa’s very first large scale hybrid wind, solar and battery renewable energy system.
The Kenya Investment Authority and Meru’s County Government, have established a partnership with Windlab and Eurus Energy to build the facility.
The MoU was signed at the TICAD conference in Japan.
The establishment is expected to provide 80MW of clean energy courtesy of the 20 wind turbines and over 40,000 solar panels.
Meru County Energy Park, as the project has been dubbed, is also expected to earn the county revenues of approximately US$ 150 million.
The project is set to begin in 2021.
Windlab’s CEO, Roger Price, said at the MoU signing, “We are excited to bring world-leading innovation in the renewable energy sector and project development expertise to Meru County.”
The Kenyan Government announced the Big Four agenda, which is a road-map to achieving the country’s development goals by 2030.
Among the four agenda is the enhancement of local manufacturing capacity. The park is undoubtedly working towards this goal by promoting and providing the use of sustainable energy.
Dr Moses Ikiara, Managing Director, KenInvest notes that, ” The promotion of predictable and sustainable renewable energy is vital to guarantee the achievement of the Manufacturing Pillar. As a result, we welcome Windlab and Eurus Energy to invest in Meru. We shall offer the partners all the support to deliver the project.”
The clean energy project is Meru County Investment development Corporation’s (MCIDC) first project yet.
It is set to benefit north of 200,000 homes, and provide direct and indirect employment for many locals.
In addition to this, the local county government will have a percentage stake in the project once it’s up and running.
