Google has entered a share purchase agreement with Vestas for taking over a minority stake in the 310MW Lake Turkana windfarm in Kenya.
Owned by Lake Turkana Wind Power, the facility is claimed to the largest of its kind in Africa and is expected to meet 15% of the energy requirements in Kenya, based on its current generation capacity.
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The deal entitles Google to 12.5% stake in the windpower plant, once it is developed.
Google energy vice-president John Woolard said: "We are making a commitment to invest in Lake Turkana because it makes financial sense, but also because it has the potential to have a massive impact on Kenya's grid, helping to spur the deployment of renewable energy in one of the world's fastest-growing countries."
"We look forward to joining Vestas and others to help accelerate progress toward a future of clean energy in Kenya."
Commissioning of the wind energy facility is expected to be done in 2017, following which it will be able to generate more than 1,400GWh of clean and low-cost energy a year.
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By GlobalDataVestas had started construction of the facility in last November.
It will be equipped with 365 Vestas V52-850kW turbine units, the related overhead electric grid collection system and a substation.
Kenya intends to have up to 5GW of installed power capacity by 2020, reports Bloomberg.
The power plant is expected to help the country by reducing its dependence on energy and fossil fuel imports.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the Standard Bank of South Africa, Nedbank, FMO, Proparco, East African Development Bank (EADB), PTA Bank, EKF, Triodos, DEG and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have offered financial support for the project, reports SeeNews Renewables.
