SOUTH AFRICA - A Wind Farm site near Oyster Bay was robbed by at least 10 armed men on Saturday.

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“Men, women and children are working without even the most basic protective equipment such as gloves and face masks,” said Mark Dummett of Amnesty International, which has investigated the cobalt-mining crisis in DRC. “In one village we visited, people showed us how the water in the local stream that they drank was contaminated by the discharge of waste from a mineral processing plant.”

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Google’s high-profile plan to buy a stake in Kenya’s Lake Turkana wind farm project has ended without a deal, Vestas, which developed and supplied turbines to the flagship development, has confirmed to Recharge.

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The Treasury has redirected Sh1 billion meant for Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) line project and street lighting to financing post-Covid-19 economic recovery plans. The decision ...set to delay the taxpayers' pain of sinking more money into the contentious project.

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Delays to complete, Africa’s largest wind farm project located in Kenya has resulted in American technology giant, Google, patience running out.

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American technology giant Google has cancelled plans to buy a 12.5 percent stake in Kenya’s Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), Africa’s largest wind farm that was officially commissioned last July. ...“Due to delays relating primarily to the transmission line, the Vestas agreement with Google was cancelled in 2019,” said Vestas. “As Vestas’ strategy doesn’t include being a long-term wind park owner, we’re currently in commercial dialogues with potential buyers of our shares.” 

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In Summary: The fact is that Lake Turkana Wind Power project (LTWP) is a disruptive entity that has shaken the core of Kenya’s energy sector. It has opened up the sector to a level of scrutiny hitherto never witnessed. It has shone a light on how traditional infrastructure projects are undertaken.

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Contractor Isolux Corsán won a €142 million EPC contract to build the line in June 2011, but the contract was not signed until August 2014, and the company filed for bankruptcy three years later. The hiatus left power from the Vestas V52-850kW turbines going untapped, and the project's developer, Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) in a precarious position.

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Negotiations with Siemens on the establishment of 2,000 MW wind farms have stopped for the second time. The project was amongst the ventures agreed upon at the Sharm El-Sheikh economic summit in 2015.

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"They have been billing Kenya Power," said an energy sector source who sought anonymity, adding that the government could be absorbing a Sh700 million monthly burden, piling the pressure on taxpayers.

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Power generating firm KenGen has delayed the construction of a 400-megawatt wind-power plant in Meru County until land rows rocking the project are resolved. ,,,The area has been in a conflict of interest from many stakeholders since the power company identified it for the mega project.

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The wind farm was supposed to be located on the Kinangop plateau but the residents, many who have refused to let go of their land, argue that the project is on private property and they are being coerced to hand over. The residents have also been complaining about the future environmental impact from the plant.

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Investors in the Kinangop Wind Park (KWP) have given up on the project, citing depletion of funds arising from delays and hostilities from the community.

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Google is backing Africa’s largest wind power project, two years after investing $12 million in the continent’s largest solar power project.

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"The administrative and security forces in Nyandarua and Nakuru Counties have been deployed to intimidate and to violently suppress the project objectors resulting in the death of one man, serious injuries to four people and the arrest of five people on February 24," they alleged in their notice of motion.

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Noah Wambugu, a farmer against the development, called it a 'milking cow' for a few individuals who were using the farmers to enrich themselves. He said that they were ready to die in defending their rights and would not allow selfish people to take advantage of them, adding that hundreds of families in South Kinangop risked being evicted from their homes.

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It would be recalled that work on the wind farm project was abandoned in 2012 following the kidnap of the site engineer, Francis Cologne, a French Man. ...Following his sudden kidnap, work on the project initially billed to be commissioned in 2012 was abandoned.

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Kenya was supposed to be one of the easiest targets. It is considered a business-friendly country accustomed to working with foreign companies ...Many say they didn't realize they would have to vacate so much land for the wind turbines. Mr. Kinyanjui recalls with pride that the last time the company came, they had to bring four truckloads of police for security.

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A proposed U.S. wind farm in Kenya must first overcome objections by farmer David Kinyanjui who says the farm would desecrate ancestral land where his father and mother are both buried.

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The would-be largest wind farm in Africa is grappling with delayed financing, which is particularly hurting the construction of a power transmission line from the 300-megawatt Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP). The Spanish contractor, Isolux Corsán, which is implementing the Kenya project, is yet to access funding from its financiers

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