Investors will set up a solar power plant in West Pokot county at a cost of Sh18 billion.
The county government has identified 1,500 acres near Ortum for the plant.
The site is about 20 kilometers from Ortum town.
The plant will be put up by Kenergy Renewables Company.
The firm has presented its proposal.
The 200MW solar PV plant will be developed in phases, with the first phase expected to generate 80MW.
Kenergy said the project will be a major investment.
The firm’s officials have met a team appointed by Governor Simon Kachapin to discuss the project.
The company will transmit power from Turkwel through Ortum to Kitale.
It has proposed to use a line being put up by the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company.
“We are ready to start the project once the preliminary issues are sorted out,” Kenergy developer Julius Mwambanga told the Star.
The company is currently developing its first utility scales solar PV project in Rumuruti, Laikipia county.
It has 20 years’ experience locally and 30 years internationally.
The project will provide 200 jobs during construction and 40 when operations start, Axel Luizy, the firm’s development director, said.
“We give communities and land owners priority in jobs, based on merit,” he said.
Kachapin told the Star on the phone yesterday his county has vast investment opportunities.
He said they will work with investors to exploit them.
Kachapin said the county has mapped all the investment opportunities.
