Israel-based SDE Energy is to build a commercial-scale wave power plant on the Kenyan coast after receiving official approval for the project from the country’s Ministry of Energy.
SDE says that it will build the 100 MW plant in conjunction with local firm Sea Wave Gen along the shores of the Kenyan coast. The project will boost Kenya’s electricity supplies in an environmentally-friendly way, says the company.
The electricity production cost at the new plant will amount to 0.02 per kWh says SDE , which last year installed its ninth wave energy power plant at Jaffa Port, Israel. In December it signed an agreement to build a 1 MW facility in Cancun, Mexico.
Power produced from the Kenyan facility will be sold to local utility KPLC, and passed on a tariff of $0.08 per KW .
Kenya wants to reduce its dependence on hydropower and oil-fired generation by boosting renewable energy capacity. The government is also investigating the feasibility of building a nuclear power plant.
