Kenyan govt looks to secure investment for energy production

11 May 2011

Kenya is hoping to secure over $1 billion (£606.7 million) in investment to improve the capacity of its sole crude oil refinery, it has been reported.

A top energy official from the country told Reuters that the investment would help the facility overcome recent problems caused by a lack of investment.

"In total we need $1.05 billion. The government does not have that kind of money. We are going to look at innovative financing mechanisms to see if we can get long-term financing," said energy permanent secretary Patrick Nyoike.

He explained that production would be upgraded to process four million tonnes of crude per year from 2.6 million tonnes now.

The energy department also wants to convert the plant into a merchant refinery so that it can source crude oil directly, process it and sell to oil marketers rather than receive oil from importers.

A leading Kenyan energy firm has secured a £53.6 million loan to finance the construction of a new 280-megawatt geothermal energy plant, Business Daily Africa reports.

Category: Energy