State-owned power producer Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has opened up hundreds of acres of land for lease in Naivasha as it lured international investors with cheap power tariffs to put up an industrial park within the geothermal steam fields.
The proposed KenGen Green Energy Park will sit on 845 acres at the Olkaria geothermal field in Naivasha and will include both industrial and non-industrial activities such as offices, data centres, research and development centre, hospitality, visitor experience centre as well as administrative and commercial uses.
The Energy Park will be accessed both by railway and roads to major seaports and airports and supported with the necessary logistical installations and will be developed in four phases between 2025 and 2045, said KenGen.
“The opportunity available is for land lease to the sub-developers interested in setting up operations in the master-planned parcel to utilise geothermal steam and/or brine (hot water), raw water, and electricity,” said the power producer.
“KenGen now invites expressions of interest from interested sub-developers and individual manufacturing/processing firms to lease land and set up at the proposed KenGen Green Energy Park in Olkaria, Naivasha,” it said.
Host light, steam-intensive industries
The park will host light industries such as warehousing and logistics and supporting industries, medium and heavy industries such as manufacturers of fertilisers, iron and steel, plastics and packaging, and fabricated metal products.
It will also host steam-intensive industries such as pulp and paper, wood and wood products, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, and leather industries.
“The park will provide quality and reliable utilities and will be managed by the developer or sub-developers,” said the firm which has embarked on a revenue diversification spree in recent years.
This comes at a time Kenya has set a cheaper power tariff of Sh10 per unit at the 15 special economic zones (SEZ) in last month’s power tariff review. The zones are spread across Naivasha, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Machakos.
The Olkaria-Kedong SEZ in Naivasha has been enjoying a cheaper tariff of Sh5 per unit.
The establishment of industrial parks is part of Kenya’s industrial transformation programme which was launched in July 2015.
The plan, which was developed by Mckinsey, targets to increase in manufacturing to over 15 per cent of GDP, the creation of 1 million jobs, and a fivefold increase in foreign direct investment.
The 2022 Knight Frank Wealth Report indicated that Kenyans with a net worth of more than Sh3.4 billion are targeting to invest in data centres within the Olkaria geothermal fields to tap the benefits of cheap power.
Data centres have been a magnet for investors amid an expected global boom in online services. Working remotely and e-commerce have led to higher data consumption, shoring up demand for more data centres globally.
The rise of Olkaria as a preferred site for data centres could be linked to affordable and sufficient power, as the centres are electricity guzzlers.
