Page 12 - AfrElec Week 12 2023

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

KenGen to start construction of

$884mn industrial park in 2025

KENYA KENYA Electricity Generating Company (Ken- involving local communities that initially
Gen) is poised to commence construction on an opposed the project on the basis of poor com-
$884mn industrial park within the Olkaria geo- pensation. The land disputes have since been
thermal field in 2025, over a decade after it was resolved.
conceived. The industrial park is connected to Mom-
The company, which generates 60% of elec- basa port via the standard gauge railway line
tricity in the East African nation, has submitted and offers prospective investors direct con-
the environmental impact assessment report for nection to cheap electricity generated from
the proposed KenGen Green Energy Industrial geothermal.
Park in Naivasha to the National Environment The aim is to attract investors in indus-
Management Authority (NEMA) for public tries like textile and apparel, fertilizer, iron and
comment. steel, plastics and packaging, fabricated metal
The park will sit on 1,824 hectares of land products, pulp and paper and wood and wood
in the Olkaria geothermal hub with the project products. Other industries include food and bev-
being implemented in phases spanning over 20 erages, warehousing and logistics.
years. “The proposed masterplan is scheduled to be
Though touted as a game changer in trans- implemented in four phases of five years each
forming the economy of Naivasha, which is with the initial phase anticipated to kick off in
located some 92 kilometres southwest of Nai- the year 2025,” NEMA said in a notice inviting
robi, the park has remained in limbo since it public comments on the project.
was conceived in 2014 despite a feasibility The industrial park will cater for both small,
study in 2016 indicating that it was econom- medium and heavy industries which will benefit
ically viable. from electricity provided by KenGen at an esti-
Part of the delay was caused by land disputes mated tariff of KES5 ($0.03) per kilowatt.™
PERFORMANCE

High coal prices drive Exxaro Resources’

net profit up 28% y/y

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH African metals and energy producer business operating environment,” Exxaro chief
Exxaro Resources has reported a 78% growth executive Nombasa Tsengwa said, as quoted by
in earnings in 2022 driven by its coal segment, News24.
according to reports. The company has shareholdings in coal, iron
Annual profit jumped 28% despite opera- ore and zinc mines as well as 100% of a renewa-
tional challenges hampering rail and ports util- ble energy firm, Cennergi, which has wind gen-
ity Transnet’s capacity to transport coal to export eration assets that contribute about 239MW to
ports and markets. the national power grid.
While coal export volumes declined by 32% Given the crisis at Transnet, Exxaro priori-
in annual terms, the Johannesburg-listed com- tised short-term solutions to transport product
pany earned an average price of $251 per tonne by pursuing alternative markets and logistical
of the product in 2022, up from $96 in 2021, channels.
Reuters reports. “We are also focused on finding perma-
The group said its earnings before interest, nent logistical solutions which will de-risk our
taxes, depreciation and amortisation climbed to business from the dependency on Transnet,”
about ZAR19bn (about $1bn), a sharp increase Tsengwa said.
from $577mn the year prior. Headline earnings Exxaro exported 5.2mn tonnes of coal in
per share, the main profit measure in South 2022, down from 7.6mn tonnes the previous
Africa, increased 28%. year.
“In spite of the obstacles we have faced The company declared a final dividend of
this year, Exxaro has once again displayed its about $0.62 per share, compared with $0.64 in
agility in navigating through the challenging 2021™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 22•March•2023