BlackRock buys shares in 310MW Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya

The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, through its Climate Finance Partnership (CFP) has acquired 12.5% and 6.25% shares in Africa’s largest wind farm, the 310MW Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya. The facility meets around 14 percent of Kenya’s current electricity demand.

Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas, along with the Danish Climate Investment Fund managed by IFU owned 12.5% and 6.25% in shares in the wind farm. Anergi International, BlackRock Alternative Investors and Milele Energy own 43.2%, 31.25%, 25.25% and 0.3% respectively.

The Lake Turkana wind facility was connected to the national grid in Kenya in 2018. The facility consists of 365 Vestas wind turbines that deliver electricity for 1,2 million Kenyan homes. Vestas said it will continue to service the turbines, each with a capacity of 850 kilowatts.

“The divestment follows Vestas strategy of developing wind farms without being a long term owner,” Vestas revealed. 

“The sale is the result of a sales process run by Vestas in cooperation with Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. (Finnfund) and the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), who have also sold their respective shares in LTWP to CFP.”

Positive impact of Lake Turkana wind farm

Through its great location, the Lake Turkana wind farm is registering great power generation yields. The wind farm has an annual average capacity factor of around 60 per cent, which is exceptionally high for a wind power plant.

Since it was completed, the wind facility has improved the reliability of Kenya’s power supply, reduced the country’s reliance on fuel imports and helped avoid millions of tons of CO2 emissions.

The project also improved livelihoods in local communities. A 200 km road that was constructed by the wind farm as part of its community development initiatives has had a positive impact on the local infrastructure and reduced travel time as well as cost of transportation.

During construction, an estimated 2,500 people were directly employed on the project. About 330 people, 85 per cent come from Marsabit County where the project is located, are currently employed at the wind power plant.

“Lake Turkana Wind Power has supported numerous local community development projects within education, health and access to water, among other things. Through the Winds of Change programme, which was set up by Lake Turkana Wind Power, we have ensured that the communities will continue to benefit from the project,” said Reik Haahr Müller, Senior Vice President, Head of Green Energy & Infrastructure at IFU.