Nairobi Inks Sh50bn Deal for Dandora Power Plant

Nairobi County has signed a Sh50 billion Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal with a Chinese firm to build Kenya’s first waste-to-energy plant in Dandora.

According to Governor Johnson Sakaja, all the necessary groundwork relating to the project has been completed, paving the way for China National Electric Engineering Company (CNEEC) to commence work on site.

“We shortly commence the construction of Kenya’s first waste-to-energy plant in Dandora, a Sh50 billion PPP awarded to CNEEC,” Mr Sakaja said when he met the company’s President Wu Guisheng in Nairobi last month.

The Dandora power plant is expected to generate 45MW from solid waste in a game-changing development that offers a sustainable way to dispose of the waste that keeps piling up at the Dandora dumpsite.

Sitting on 30 acres on the outskirts of Nairobi, the Dandora dumpsite is considered the largest landfill site in East Africa and one of the world’s largest dumpsites.

The long-awaited project will reportedly be completed in a single phase, with the Chinese operator expected to enter into commercial operations in 2026.

On July 25, 2023, the county awarded CNEEC the tender to design, finance, build, operate, maintain, and transfer the Dandora dumpsite project.

However, the project later stalled after a petitioner moved to court seeking to nullify the county’s decision, claiming that his rights had been violated.

The petitioner, Advin Muthoni Mbae, claimed in court documents that residents of Dandora, who would be affected by the project, were not asked to air their objections.

“Our right to a clean and healthy environment as residents of Dandora and its environs are at risk as the construction of the dumpsite involves burning of toxic and radioactive substances,” Mbae said.

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He cited a case where the Environment Court ordered the county to decommission the Dandora dumpsite and move it to another site in 6 months from July 15, 2021.

The case had been pending until May 29, when Justice Anne Omolo threw it out because the petitioner filed their case prematurely.

Justice Omolo stated that there was no proof whatsoever that the plant would negatively impact residents of Dandora and Nairobi at large.

She also pointed out that construction of the plant had yet to begin, and the only progress was picking the company that would undertake the project.

The county government of Nairobi, through its lawyer, wanted the case thrown out, maintaining that no contracts had been signed yet.

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