The board of Kenya's REA approved the 55MW plant. Credit: REA

Kenya’s Rural Electrification Authority (REA) has approved the construction of a 55MW solar power plant in the East Kenyan County of Garissa, requiring an investment of KES12.8 million (US$126 million).

The solar farm will be financed through concessional funding from the Government of China.

The REA, a body created in order to accelerate the pace of rural electrification in Kenya, will install roughly 210,200 solar panels of 260W capacity each. The project will be able to power the equivalent of 625,000 homes.

REA claimed that once complete, this will be the largest solar project in East and Central Africa. It will also create more than 1,000 jobs.

Construction will begin in July this year and is expected to be to completed and connected to the grid within a year of starting construction.

Last month, UK solar developer Solarcentury has continued its recent international expansion by agreeing to a US$2.5 million solar project in Kenya.

Kenya will aslo hold the upcoming United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi in May with climate finance for global renewable energy development a key topic.

The opportunities and challenges for solar in West Africa will be under discussion at the Solar & Off-Grid Renewables conference on 19-20 April in Accra, Ghana. Hosted by PV Tech's publisher, Solar Media, the event will feature a high-level panel of speakers from industry and government. For further details, click here.