Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has completed Phase One of the 25 acres Ngong Forest Restoration project which commenced in October 2018. The project involved planting 7,000 indigenous trees around a degraded site in Ngong hills forest power station where KenGen generates 25.5MW of electricity from wind energy.
The initiative is in line with the company’s environmental conservation program and corporate environmental sustainability policy. The policy seeks to undertake an additional 10 Hectares ecosystem restoration project in Phase II. This is within the KenGen lease area at Ngong during the 2021/2022 financial year. According to Ngong forest restoration Phase I’s completion report, KenGen attained a 100% trees survival rate, marking the project as completed and successful.
KenGen has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with partners including Kenya Wildlife Services. In the MoU, KenGen is required to carry out conservation and management activities of Ngong Forest while also carrying out mitigation measures identified in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment study for the proposed construction of 10MW Ngong Phase IIIA wind project at Ngong Hill.
The project supports the commitment towards NETFUND 2 billion campaign where the company has pledged to plant and grow 400,000 seedlings per year. Over the years, KenGen has supported initiatives such as the Green Initiative Challenge (GIC) launched in 2013 to mitigate the effects of climate change while maintaining ecological balance.
Speaking on the achievement, KenGen’s Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano said, “As an organisation committed to ensuring environmental sustainability in our areas of operations, we shall keep on ensuring that the plans for subsequent phases in the Ngong forest restoration project are delivered successfully,” said Miano, adding “this will complement other climate action efforts including our deployment of green energy power projects including construction of 83MW Olkaria I unit 6 which is almost complete.”