Meru County’s partnership with international renewable energy expert Windlab goes from strength to strength

Meru County has this week welcomed local and international stakeholders to Nairobi and Meru to further advance development of the innovative Meru County Energy Park which is set to be Africa’s first utility-scale hybrid renewable energy facility combining wind, solar and battery technologies.

Windlab global CEO Mr Roger Price announced at a stakeholder dinner held in Nairobi: “I am proud to share the exciting news that this week the world’s first hybrid renewable energy facility, a Windlab project known as Kennedy Energy Park, has completed construction and was connected to the electricity network and energised just last week Queensland, Australia. The expertise acquired through this project will be deployed at Meru County Energy Park, and we are excited to bring such world leading technology and project development expertise to Meru County”.

Meru County Energy Park will be around 80MW of capacity consisting of up to 20 wind turbines and more than 40,000 solar panels. It will bring in excess of USD150m in investment to the County and produce enough reliable, predictable renewable energy to power around 200,000 Kenyan homes. It is a flagship project for the Meru County Investment and Development Corporation (MCIDC). The project is being developed in a partnership between the MCIDC and Windlab, as a shining example of a successful Public Private Partnership initiative, operated under a Joint Development Agreement. The project is expected to commence construction in 2021 and Meru County will own part of the project when operational.

Meru County Investment and Development Corporation (MCIDC) Chair Mrs Felicity Biriri stated: “Our partnership with Windlab is going from strength to strength. The project development phase is progressing well and Windlab’s commitment to exemplary community engagement is very aligned with the County’s intent to ensure that the local benefits derived from the project are maximised. This week we have visited some of the community initiatives that have already been sponsored by the Meru County Energy Park project.”