Bamburi Cement to Install Two Solar Plants in its Kenyan Manufacturing Unit

Bamburi Cement Ltd, the subsidiary of the Franco-Swiss group LafargeHolcim, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with independent power producer Momnai Energy to set up two solar photovoltaic projects for its manufacturing plants in Kenya. The cement manufacturer is going to develop these solar plants in Mombasa and Nairobi sites, with a power capacity totaling 19.5 MWp.

Bamburi Cement moves towards green energy as it banks on solar energy to reduce its carbon footprint through the partnership with Momnai Energy. Under the agreement, Bamburi will buy electricity from Momnai Energy, which will finance, develop, manage, operate as well as maintain the solar photovoltaic plants.

Momnai energy will build the larger solar plant with 14.5 MWp capacity near Bamburi’s plant in Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. The other solar PV plant in the Nairobi plant will have a capacity of 5 MWp. Bamburi Cement expects the combined capacity of both PV plants will meet nearly 40% of the electricity needs of its manufacturing plants.

Bamburi CEO, Seddik Hassani, said the solar plants are the key objectives of the company’s sustainability program, including cost reduction and meeting Holcim’s commitment to net-zero carbon emission with the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative. The solar plants will also make Bamburi’s commitments under the climate change agreement signed at COP 21.

Anders Hauch, Director of Momnai Energy, mentioned that their company is dedicated to playing a key role in the fast and cleaner energy transition in the African region, which will lead to a more sustainable world and improvements of the economies and livelihood of people in the continent. Developing the solar projects for providing renewable power to Bamburi Cement fulfills both the company’s agendas.

Bamburi Cement will now have to obtain the approval of the Kenyan energy regulatory authorities before launching the work on the solar projects at the end of 2022. The construction of the solar power plants is expected to complete within one year before the solar power.

The initiative to reduce carbon emissions has been already implemented by Bamburi, as the company also relies on biomass to generate its electricity By 2019, the company is generating about 12% of its electricity from biomass in the Kenyan plants.