Kenyans will have to wait longer before they can enjoy cheaper energy generated by an upcoming power plant in the region.
According to a statement from the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency, the state has been forced to postpone the construction of the power plant due to a discrepancy between the supply and demand for nuclear power.
The project, which is valued at Ksh540 billion was initially expected to be operational by 2026 but has now been extended by a decade to 2036.
The project was expected to be the first of its kind in the region once completed.
Speaking to Bloomberg on Wednesday, November 17, Nuclear Power and Energy Agency Director of Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Development, Erick Ohaga, noted that the supply needs and production costs did not match those of the available demand.
“Timelines have changed because power supply needs to follow demand,” he stated.
The announcement comes a year after anti-graft activists and civil society actors questioned the viability of the project.
Some activists, including renowned economist David Ndii, anti-graft crusader John Githongo and Jerotich Seii, an energy sector activist, were skeptical that the project will never come to fruition, describing it as an example of what former Auditor General Edward Ouko termed as 'budgeted graft'.
The project is expected to be hosted in Tana River County after a series of studies found the location ideal to host the plant.
A regulatory filing on the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) website revealed that the plant would be built through a concessionaire.
At the time, the country projected that the plant would significantly reduce high costs of power as well as curb carbon emissions that are dangerous to the environment.
“The financing aspect of the Nuclear Power Plant is among the plans underway with a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) being the most preferred financing agreement with the concessionaire that shall come on board,” the agency revealed at the time.
Kenya would be second country in Africa to have a nuclear power plant apart from South Africa which has one near Cape Town.
