Kenya Secures Funding for Major Data Center Infrastructure Project

(The Star, Kenya) -- The Kenyan government has secured a $4.48 billion (Sh682,496,192,000 billion) deal for Green Development projects at the COP28 summit.

The deals were announced during the launch of the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII) on Saturday.

In the deals, Kenya will collaborate with Fortescue for a green ammonia project, boosting energy security and cutting reliance on imports.

This will provide Kenya with additional energy security that steps beyond the use of fossil fuels, and more importantly stops a reliance on imported fertilizer.

"The partnership sets Kenya on a path to industrial decarbonization."

Fortescue will work together with the Kenya Government to educate and upskill the next generation of workers for the green transition.

The deal is worth $1.5 billion.

The second deal will see Kenya through the Konza Metropolis and KenGen develop an ICT Data Storage industry using green energy from Geothermal. 

EcoCloud, as an investor with KenGen and Konza partnership, plans a 200MW data centre infrastructure outlay at an investment cost of USD 1.5 billion.

Konza city is responsible for the development of the required infrastructure while together with KenGen are determined to bring on board investors.

In this project, $600 million has been secured.

Related:MainOne Enters Cote d'Ivoire Expanding Its Data Center Footprint

Kenya has also partnered with Indonesia and Masdar to build a 300MW geothermal project.

This partnership seeks to leverage the strengths of both countries, through technological transfer, capacity building, enhancement in policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, and mutual investment in geothermal resource development.

It comes with an initial investment of $1 billion.

The government has also partnered with Globeleq to develop a 35MW geothermal project in Menengai. This will come for $110 million and will take 24 months to complete. 

Globeleq is currently operating a solar project in Malindi with a capacity of 52MWp.

Another $800 million deal to construct a 200MW Paka Geothermal field by GDC and AMEA Power.

GDC and AMEA will jointly assess available data, site access, and studies done at the Paka Geothermal Field, including the number of wells drilled, the status of the wells, drilling process reports, and the capacity of the wells (MW equivalent of steam capacity and Steam + Brine Capacity).

This will be followed by a full feasibility study for the Paka Geothermal Field, the costs for which would be borne fully by AMEA Power.

The US, Brazil, India, and Kenya launch CESC for clean energy supply chain expansion, with a $568 million loan for developing countries. Here Kenya announced a $200 million investment into the same.

Related:Equinix to Invest $160 Million in South Africa Data Center Entry

United Green and Kenya Development Corporation's to develop sustainable agriculture project around the Lake Basin Region.

The project will cover 15,000 hectares of climate-smart, high carbon-sequestering, precision agriculture, and broadacre row cropping.

It will cost $270 million.

This article originally appeared in The Star, Kenya