Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — Ormat Technologies Inc., a U.S.
developer of geothermal energy, signed a 25-year agreement to
supply Kenya Power & Lighting Co. with electricity from a 35-megawatt project.
Ormat’s majority-owned Kenya unit will build and operate
the Menengai power plant, according to a statement today from
the Reno, Nevada-based company. Construction is expected to
begin after financing is completed, and terms of the power sale
weren’t disclosed.
Ormat owns 51 percent of the unit. Symbion Power LLC, a
U.S. energy developer, and Civicon Ltd., Mombasa, Kenya-based
construction company, each own 24.5 percent.
This is Ormat’s fifth geothermal project in Kenya, and when
it’s done the company will be supplying 145 megawatts of
capacity to the country’s grid. The Menengai project is part of
President Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative aimed at
stimulating economic growth in the region, and received a
partial risk guarantee from the African Development Bank.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Justin Doom in New York at
jdoom1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Will Wade, Dylan Griffiths