- InfraCo will provide $8m for electrification in Kenya.
- These funds will finance 22 green mini-grids across villages.
- The mini-grids systems are expected to be completed by Q3 2022
InfraCo Africa will finance a rural electrification project using stand-alone solar systems in Kenya. InfraCo will provide $8 million to Kudura Power East Africa (KPEA) for the electrification of several villages in Busia County in western Kenya. In addition, InfraCo has signed a shareholders’ agreement with Rural Village Energy Solutions (RVE.SOL), which previously held all the shares in KPEA.
Under the agreement, InfraCo will own 40 per cent of the company that will finance, build and operate off-grid clean energy systems. KPEA plans to deploy 22 solar-powered hybrid mini-grids in western Kenya. Each system will have a capacity of between 10 and 60 kWp. Giles Vaes, InfraCo Africa’s chief executive, stated, “The project will not only expand access to clean, reliable solar energy in rural areas, but will also pilot the provision of street lighting, pumping and water purification, as well as financing of appliances so that communities and businesses can truly maximise the health, safety and economic benefits of clean, renewable energy.”
InfraCo says that the mini-grids will provide 7,000 connections in rural Busia County. The construction of the mini-grids is expected to commence in Q1 2022, with commissioning scheduled for Q3 of the same year.
The electrification project is supported by Green Mini-Grid facility Kenya (GMG Kenya), a programme implemented by the French Development Agency (AFD) since 2016 and funded by UKAid and the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (EUATF). The PIDG has also provided a technical assistance grant of $235,000 to KEPA.