Energy firm gets Sh102 million for Kibera power plant

The project had received a financial commitment to the tune of Sh1.31 billion. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By CONSTANT MUNDA
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Asticom Kenya, a solid waste-to-energy start-up, has landed a Sh102.56 million ($995,000) grant to partly fund a 10-megawatt power plant in Nairobi’s Kibera slum.

Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a multi-donor trust fund managed by African Development Bank (AfDB), has released the cash to cover the costs of the proposed project’s full environmental and social impact assessment and detailed engineering designs.

The grant will also help shoulder legal advisory services as well as financial and transaction advisory services, AfDB said in a statement.

The Sh9.28 billion ($90 million) SEFA, which is focused on sustainable energy agenda In the continent, is funded by the governments of Denmark, the UK, the US and Italy.

The plant, which will be connected to the grid, will generate electricity from solid waste in the sprawling slum, one of the largest informal settlement in Africa.

The waste in the slum, estimated at 1,000 tonnes daily, will be first converted into biogas and fuel ethanol, helping boost health and social welfare in the crowded area where waste disposal and management amenities are overstretched.

The AfDB said the proposed waste-to-energy project would create jobs for residents who will be contracted to sort the waste.

Asticom Kenya CEO Leah Tsuma said last February the plant would, besides converting solid waste into electricity, purify sewerage into clean water.

The project had received a financial commitment to the tune of Sh1.31 billion ($12.7 million) from Climate Technology Initiative.