AfDB issues partial risk guarantee to back Lake Turkana wind project

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a partial risk guarantee (PRG) worth €20m ($27m) for a 428km transmission line to evacuate power from the 300MW Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in northern Kenya. The PRG will cover private lenders and investors against the risk that the government, in this case the state-owned Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Ketraco), should fail to meet its contractual obligations, causing costly delays which have the potential to hold up the entire project. Ketraco has given Isolux Corsán an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission line, and the Spanish company had requested a PRG before proceeding.