K&M is an internationally recognized finance and engineering advisory firm. Since its creation in 1987, K&M has advised private investors and governments on the development of power projects valued at more than US$50 billion.
K&M was recently engaged by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), the largest power producer in Kenya, to undertake a feasibility study for a 40 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant to be located in the Seven Forks area near the Kamburu Hydroelectric Power Station in Kenya. Funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), K&M analyzed all aspects of the plant’s technical, economic, and financial viability, which included analysis of the solar resource, proposed site, plant design, costs, economic benefits, and social and environmental impacts.
On March 12, 2018, KenGen approved the feasibility study for the proposed 40 MW solar PV power plant. With the participation of Project Director Derek Martin, Manager Nathan Miller and Senior Analyst Fahad Siddiqui, K&M presented its findings and recommendations to the KenGen management team and outlined an implementation plan for the project, which will be the first solar PV project for KenGen and one of the first solar PV projects in Kenya.
KenGen and K&M have been working together for the past two years, as K&M is also providing transaction advisory services for KenGen’s Olkaria VI 140 MW geothermal power plant, to be located approximately 60 miles from the anticipated site of the Seven Forks solar power project. The Olkaria VI power plant will be implemented as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project under Kenya’s PPP Law.
Conducting these feasibility studies and transaction advisory services requires the ability to quickly understand the local situation, adapt responses and innovate to solve unanticipated problems. K&M is proud to support USTDA’s grantees and other donor agencies to achieve their energy related goals.
K&M’s experience emerged from its work developing and acquiring power plants. K&M’s advice is based on its exposure to and successful resolution of dilemmas similar to those faced by its clients. K&M advised on the feasibility, engineering, and procurement of the first independent power producers (IPPs) in Pakistan, Jordan, Vietnam, Colombia and other countries, and established the internationally recognized standards of two project structures: Build-Own-Operate (BOO) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and popularized the use of credit enhancement mechanisms, such as partial risk guarantees, for improving the bankability of IPPs in emerging markets.
K&M will always strive to help the donor community, investors, lenders, and governments connect the world to the electricity grid, and provide access to those who live beyond it.
