Kenya’s Athi River ventures into power production
Athi River Mining, Kenya’s third-largest cement maker, intends to build a 29MW coal-fired power plant for about US$50m, managing director Pradeep Paunrana said on Wednesday.
The company said it planned to import South African coal for the plant -- expected to be ready by December 2011. Some of the electricity will be used at its coastal plant, and the remaining 19MW offloaded to the Kenya Power & Lighting Company
"The project is a clean coal-fired power plant. It will be set up next to our cement plant in Kaloleni," Paunrana told Reuters by telephone. "We will be saving US$2m per year (by generating our own power)."
He said that the company has not secured all the financing but has been in talks with KPLC to buy the extra power for US$130/MW
"It’s a long-term project. We are talking to the IFC (International Finance Corporation) and the European Investment Bank and others in the region specialising in infrastructure."
Source: Bloomberg
Published under Cement News
