KenGen Completes 25 Acres Ngong Forest Restoration Project
Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen), has completed Phase One of the 25 acres Ngong Forest Restoration Project.
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, which seeks to undertake an additional 10 Hectares ecosystem restoration project in Phase II 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.
The report read: “The project’s final milestone verification for milestone 3 final quarter was carried out on 21st June 2021 followed by a final Project Implementation Team (PIT) meeting at Ngong project site where 7,134 seedlings were verified as surviving against a target of 7,000 seedlings thus a 100% success achieved rehabilitating an area covering 10.7 acres (est).”
Speaking on the achievement, KenGen’s Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano, said the company has fully aligned itself to climate action agenda and rolled out various environmental conservation projects across the country which will go a long way in helping to slow down the effects on climate change.
“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.”
KenGen’s Environment and Sustainable Development Manager, Joshua Were, said that KenGen had rolled out plans to undertake an additional 10 hectares ecosystem restoration project within KenGen lease area during the 2021/2022 financial year. This he said will be achieved through planting, protection, replacing and maintenance of 10,000 assorted indigenous tree seedlings.
“Our aim is 100% growth rate, we do not only plant trees but also go a step further to ensure that all the trees are well taken care of and natured to maturity,” said Mr. Were.
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 to mitigate the effects of climate change while maintaining ecological balance. The initiatives such as the Green Initiative Challenge (GIC) launched in 2013 has been under the KenGen Foundation’s environmental pillar and community sensitization.
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