The National Environment Tribunal (NET) of Kenya has cancelled the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) license of the 981 MW Lamu coal-fired power project. The NET has considered that developers omitted engineering plans and failed to consult residents, and has consequently determined that the process for a new EIA should be carried out.
The coal-fired project developed by Amu Power Company, a joint venture of Gulf Energy and Centum Investment, was aimed at replacing ageing diesel-fired power plants. The project was first proposed in 2015 at an initial cost of US$2bn, but has been repeatedly delayed and is now expected to be commissioned in 2024 at the earliest. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) estimates that the construction of the plant would cost consumers over 10 times what its developers claimed.
Earlier in June 2019, the government of Kenya decided to reevaluate its 2030 total capacity target from 10 GW to 7.2 GW, due to a slowdown in power demand growth from 2021 onwards (from 9%/year to 7%/year between 2019-2021). At the end of 2018, the country has total power generation capacity of 2.8 GW, of which 0.8 GW of thermal and hydropower each.
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