KENYA: Finnfund Sells Its Stake in the 310 MW Lake Turkana Wind Farm

Posted on : Friday , 24th March 2023

The Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund) is selling its shares in Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), the special purpose company that operates the 310 MW Lake Turkana wind farm. It is the 2nd shareholder to withdraw from East Africa's largest wind project.

 

News about the Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya. One of the project’s shareholders, the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund) is selling its shares in the special purpose company Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP). Its shares are being taken over by Climate Finance Partnership (CFP), a public-private finance vehicle managed by BlackRock Alternatives. According to Finnfund, the deal has already been signed and closing is expected in the 2nd quarter of 2023.

 

“LTWP was the largest equity investment made by Finnfund at the time of commitment. It is also one of the largest private investments in Kenya’s history,” recalls the Helsinki, Finland-based investment firm. It joins the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND), as well as the Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems, which put its shares up for sale in 2020.

 

In addition to its 2 investors, LTWP is co-owned by Anergi Turkana Investments, the Anergi subsidiary that took over the assets from Norfund in 2021. The wind farm is also owned by Dutch investor KP&P Africa (KP&P), the Danish Climate Investment Fund (KIF) through the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), and Sandpiper.

 

For the record, the Lake Turkana wind farm is the largest in East Africa with a capacity of 310.25 MW. The 365 wind turbines that produce this electricity are spread over an area of 160 km2 in the district of Loiyangalani, in Marsabit County, about 545 km by road north of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. The wind farm is covered by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between Lake Turkana Wind Power and the state-owned Kenya Power Company.