[Source: Business Daily, by John Mutua]
Taxpayers paid an additional Sh1 billion fine to the owners of Lake Turkana Wind Power after Kenya delayed connecting the plant to the national power grid by June.
The Treasury has asked MPs to approve the penalty through the supplementary budget that is under scrutiny of Parliament’s budget committee.
The plant had faced a series of setbacks, including securing financing, which delayed construction of building transmission lines linking the wind farm to the nation grid.
Delays in construction of the 428-kilometre power line has hampered electricity evacuation from the northern town of Marsabit to Suswa substation in Narok, the country’s main interchange for power coming from different sources. This has left the wind farm developers stranded with power amid pressing cash needs such as loans repayment, an obligation that taxpayers will shoulder.
Construction of the power line started in November 2015 but was delayed by land compensation demands and the closure of a major contractor.
[Full article: Business Daily, by John Mutua]
