Kenya Electricity Generating Company, (KenGen) and Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) have settled on building Ruai garbage power plant which will cost Kenyan taxpayer Ksh.22.4 billion.
In an agreement, KenGen will provide land while the NMS will provide municipal garbage.
“The project with an installed capacity of 45MW shall be constructed over a period of three years at a cost of Ksh.22.41 billion with 70 percent of it being debt at an interest rate of 6 percent with a payback period of 15 years,” said KenGen.
Initially, the plant was to be constructed at the Dandora dumpsite but this later changed to Ruai Sewage Treatment plant after the High Court in 2021 ordered NMS to shut down the dumpsite and relocate it to a more environmentally friendly location.
“After due diligence and concerns over aviation safe flight path requirements, a decision was made to change the project site to a more suitable location,” read the MoU.
Dandora dumpsite was officially opened in 1975 with World Bank funds and 26 years later in 2001, it was considered full. Up to date, Nairobi’s garbage still ends up at Dandora despite it being full.
However, in 2016, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) opposed plans for the Ruai landfill, saying it fell within the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) flight path.
KCAA argued that the dumpsite, just 10 kilometers from the country’s main airport, would breach International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) requirement that such a facility be at least 13 kilometers from a runway.
