OPIC Board of Directors Commits to Lake Turkana Wind Power Project, Affirms Power Africa Pledge
June 10, 2014
(OPIC)
WASHINGTON – The Board of Directors of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC),
the U.S. Government’s development finance
institution, has approved an investment
guaranty of up to $250 million to support
construction of the Lake Turkana Wind Power
project in northern Kenya.
OPIC joins several development finance
institutions as well as private lenders in
providing financing for the 310-megawatt
project, which will be the single largest wind
power project in Africa and is projected to
serve more than 2.5 million Kenyan homes,
boosting the country’s installed energy
capacity by 20%.
OPIC is playing a key role in President Obama’s
Power Africa Initiative, which aims to catalyze
private investors to produce 10,000 megawatts
of new energy for the more than 600 million
Sub-Saharan Africans currently living without
power. OPIC has committed to provide $1.5
billion to develop energy projects throughout
Sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years in
support of the initiative.
“This is a historic project and underscores the
U.S. government’s support for powering Africa,”
said Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President
and CEO. “By joining this esteemed group of
lenders for the monumental Lake Turkana wind
project, OPIC solidifies our commitment to the
transformative goals of Power Africa, helping
to catalyze the private capital that will be
the key to bringing electricity to millions of
people in Africa.”
The power produced by the Lake Turkana project
will be a significant contribution to both the
Power Africa Initiative and to Kenya, where
less than 25 percent of the population has
access to power. The project is projected to
create over 2,000 jobs during the construction
phase and sustain nearly 200 full-time jobs
when operational.
“OPIC’s power generation portfolio in Africa is
quite diverse and growing rapidly. This project
demonstrates the collaborative and innovative
approach OPIC takes in supporting the Power
Africa goal of achieving widespread energy
access across Sub-Saharan Africa. The creative
partnerships in the Lake Turkana project are
touchstones of how Power Africa will achieve
its goals, and the millions of people in Kenya
that will gain new energy access are proof of
our progress in this initiative,” added
Littlefield.
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