55 MW Solar Plant For Kenya

• Electrification Authority Approves China S
  Key takeaways
• 55 MW solar power plant will be built in Garissa county with concessional funding from Chinese government
• Kenyan Rural Electrification Authority (REC) says the $126 million project will create 1,000 jobs
• Construction start scheduled for July
• The power plant will use 210,210 solar panels - and is said to be biggest in the East and Central Africa
• Jinko to supply the modules

The Kenyan Rural Electrification Authority (REC) has paved the way for a 55 MW solar power plant in Garissa county. It will be built with concessional funding from the Chinese government.

The plant will use 210,210 solar panels, each with a power rating of 260 W. It will produce enough electricity to power 625,000 homes. The entire project will cost 12.8 billion Kshs ($126 million), and is said to create around 1,000 jobs.

Construction on the Garissa project will begin in July 2016 and is scheduled to take one year to complete. According to REA, the project will be the biggest in the East and Central Africa. Once operational, it will feed its power to the national grid.

The project was first announced in 2012 and will be spread over 200 acres, according to Chinese Xinhua News Agency's Xinhuanet. The agency mentioned that Chinese PV manufacturer JinkoSolar said in 2012 it had signed a deal with China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic & Technical Cooperation Ltd (CJIC) to supply modules for the project.