Williamson Tea has constructed the biggest solar power plant in East Africa, generating 1MW of electricity and reducing the company’s annual electricity costs by 30 per cent.

The solar park is expected to set the pace for similar investments by the region’s manufacturers.

“There is a lot of interest from the private sector on this scale [IMW] and in particular from manufacturers in Industrial Area and large shopping malls. A lot of people are waiting to see how this works,” said Guy Lawrence, the managing director of East Africa Solar, the developer of the turnkey project.

An NSE-listed tea grower, processor and blender, Williamson operates four tea processing factories in Kenya’s Rift Valley region — Changoi, Kapchorua, Kaimosi and Tinderet.

New technology enables solar power to be generated even in areas that experience high rainfall and foggy weather conditions.

The solar park will be studied closely by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), whose 68 tea processing factories have been grappling with the high cost of power and using tree biomass to dry their teas.

Last year, KTDA issued a tender for a feasibility study on solar PV generation, the general manager of KTDA Power Company (KTPC) Lucas Maina said. 

“The feasibility study on grid connected solar power plants is for several KTDA-managed tea factories,” said Mr Maina. “The feasibility study will enable KTDA to decide if it should construct 0.5MW to 2MW solar power projects for use by its tea factories and for sale to the grid.”  

Electricity costs per kilogramme of processed tea increased from Ksh5.63 ($0.06) in 2001 to Ksh10.10 ($0.11) in 2010, a 79.4 per cent increase.

KTDA is developing mini-hydropower projects in some tea growing regions to reduce reliance on Kenya Power.

Williamson Tea joins Mumias Sugar Company as one of the listed agriculture companies that generates its own electricity. Mumias generates 35MW from bagasse, a by-product of sugar processing. Some 24MW of that power is sold to the national grid.

Kilifi Plantations, a dairy and sisal farm in the Coast region, also generates its own electricity using biogas, with cow dung and sisal farm waste being used as feed-stock for the biogas plant.

Previously, the roof-mounted 72kW plant at Uhuru Flowers farm in Timau, in Laikipia County, was the largest solar plant in the region. The plant, completed in 2013, has helped the company slash its electricity costs by 80 per cent, according to the owner Ivan Freeman.

At 1MW, the Williamson Tea plant will produce 1.7 million kWh of electricity per year. The return on investment for the project is estimated at seven years.

“The solar power system provides enough power to enable the Changoi Tea Factory to run from solar produced electricity during daylight hours, enabling a massive reduction in energy use,” said Ishmael Sang, the general manager of Changoi Tea Factory, part of Williamson Tea.

The solar park is the sixth such project in the world to use a new technology known as Solar Fuel Saver, which is used to protect the standby generator and ensure that the electrical system is stable, said Mr Lawrence.

“The technology allows greater synchronisation of solar power and generator power,” he said.

“The interest is huge, but some companies are unable to raise the financing. This is an issue that needs to be addressed as many companies are unable to raise this kind of money from their balance sheet for single investments,” said Mr Lawrence.

East African Solar has developed a leasing model for companies.

“The solar lease model requires the beneficiary company to commit a small upfront capital amount. We develop the project to the required scale and the company commits to buy the power from the plant at an agreed tariff for between eight and 10 years,” said Mr Lawrence.

He said there are several projects in Kenya where this model of solar leasing will be used. “This is the model we believe will unlock many more projects in the region.”