Corporate News
Protest against Kinangop Wind Park plan. PHOTO | FILE
By ANNIE NJANJA
In Summary
- Key electricity generation projects have stalled due to land acquisition and resettlement difficulties.
- Investors behind these projects have had to put their plans on hold as the process of land acquisition gets more complicated.
- The tussles highlight hurdles that investors seeking to exploit natural resources face while dealing with the national and county governments.
Investors in the energy sector will be hoping for a
better year after land disputes stalled mega electricity generation
projects in 2015.
Kenya’s target to inject an additional 5,000 megawatts of
electricity into the national grid by 2017 looks set to fall behind
schedule, as only 586 megawatts has been added to the national pool so
far— a year to the set deadline.
The fate of the remaining 4,414 megawatts hangs in
the balance as key projects have stalled due to land acquisition and
resettlement difficulties.
Companies behind these projects have had to put
their plans on hold as the process of land acquisition gets more
complicated and entangled in the politics of a devolved system of
governance.
The future of the Kinangop Wind Park project in
Nyandarua, for example, seems uncertain after the development was halted
in September when locals declined to offer their land for the plant.
Another 400-megawatt wind power project in Meru is experiencing similar
difficulties.
The tussles highlight hurdles that investors
seeking to exploit natural resources face while dealing with the
national and county governments.
An official of the company spearheading the
Kinangop project said local politicians are becoming the biggest players
in the stalemates.
General Electric (GE) have already delivered wind
turbines and signed a deal to provide maintenance worth Sh5.8 billion
for the next 10 years, but the land issue still won’t go away.
Investors warn that the project, set to inject 61
megawatts into the national grid, could hit a dead end if the national
government does not step in to solve the dispute. The wind farm,
estimated to be worth Sh15 billion ($150 million), was to be completed
last year.
A geothermal project in Turkana has also stalled
after a stand-off between the Olsuswa Energy — a firm doing exploration —
and the Turkana county executive for Energy, Environment and Natural
Resources.
The 140-megawatt project, it seems, will have to
wait until talks on land acquisition are concluded. The project has now
remained frozen as the county government said that no memorandum of
understanding (MoU) has been signed or any agreements reached,
especially with regard to the use of community land and its resources.
Olsuswa Energy insists that it had followed due process, and was awaiting the county government to furnish it with an MoU.
The county said the deal would involve the devolved
unit, local leaders and community representatives — who are custodians
of the land and its resources.
Construction of a coal plant in Kwale has also
delayed due to land resettlement. The project was set to start in
November but has had to wait until the National Land Commission takes
over 869 acres of public land from private investors and squatters
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