The High Court has ordered the Ministry of Energy to table a status report on all power projects in Marsabit County by May 10, 2025.
This comes amid a clash with an independent power producer (IPP) owned by Kenyans in the diaspora over the delayed approval of a proposed 300-megawatt wind plant.
Gitson Energy—owned by Kenyans in the diaspora—is one of the independent power producers seeking to tap the vast wind potential in Marsabit, but the approval of its proposed project has dragged on for about three years despite having given the firm the go-ahead for feasibility study 15 years ago.
The project has faced challenges, including a change in status by the Ministry of Energy from “approved” to “under contention”—prompting Gitson to seek details on the approval status of all power projects in the county.
High Court judge Andrew Mwamuye ordered the ministry to provide information on the status of power projects in Marsabit by May 10.
“The first respondent shall, within 30 days from the date hereof, comply fully with this decree by supplying the applicant with a certified and accurate list of all approved power projects in Marsabit County as of December 31, 2021,” the judge said in a decision seen by Business Daily.
“The said information must clearly indicate project names, capacity, approval dates, current status, and project details as requested.”
The ministry had in April last year given a list of the projects but Gitson protested on grounds that the information given was not accurate.
Gitson made the first request for information from the ministry in January 2022. The ministry failed to respond within the stipulated 21 days, prompting the company to escalate the matter to the Commission of Administrative Justice (CAJ).
However, the ministry failed to heed CAJ’s initial directive and only provided the list following a second directive issued in October 2023.
The ministry had said that the CAJ’s letter had been made to the wrong address, leading to the delay. The information was later provided in March last year, albeit with gaps that prompted Gitson to move to the High Court.
Marsabit County’s vast wind potential has attracted IPPs led by Lake Turkana Wind Company, whose 310MW wind power project in the Loiyangalani area is the biggest in Africa. KenGen is also in the advanced stages of setting up a wind plant with an initial capacity of 200 MW.
Marsabit County is seen as key to helping increase the share of wind energy in the national grid from 13.46 percent or 971.9 Gigawatt hours (GWh) as of December last year, behind hydro at 24.74 percent (1,786.90 GWh) and geothermal at 2,875.33 GWh (39.81 percent).
The protracted battle between Gitson and the ministry has dampened hopes of the company setting up the plant, given that it was first given greenlight in February 2010. This go-ahead was reaffirmed in 2017 before the change in project status triggered the clash between the duo.
Gitson had been given eight months from October 2017 to finalise the feasibility study of its proposed power project. It is unclear what led to the delays.
