Employees of General Electric in the East African country, Kenya, have volunteered their time to make a difference in the Kipeto Wind Farm community in Kajiado as part of the company’s volunteer day.
The Volunteer Day included a tour around the installation site for the wind turbines, tree planting within the Kipeto Wind Farm community, donation of beds and installation of 20 computers for the Oloyiankalani Girls’ Secondary School’s computer laboratory.
The initiative was part of GE’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) of GE Kujenga, which aims to empower people by building valuable skills, equip communities with new tools and technology, and elevate ideas that are helping to solve Africa’s challenges. GE partners with communities, businesses and other key stakeholders to create programmes that address some of Africa’s biggest challenges.
“We’re proud to give back to the community and always look forward to makingel a difference.
“Today’s outreach with the Kipeto wind farm community provides an opportunity for our employees to experience first-hand our technology being deployed to bring wind power to thousands of Kenyans while impacting the community’s students,” Brenda Mbathi, CEO for GE East Africa said.
In 2019, GE invested more than US$3.25 million in its CSI initiatives under GE Kujenga. Additionally, GE volunteers spent approximately 800 hours of their time giving back to the communities and impacting 1,800 beneficiaries across nine countries. Previously, GE worked with Kipeto Energy Plc to refurbish and upgrade the Oloyiankalani Dispensary in Iidamat Ward, Kajiado Central Sub-County which serves more than 5,000 residents.
“Kipeto Energy Plc’s 100-megawatt (MW) wind power project is GE’s flagship onshore wind project in Sub-Sahara Africa, and it has been a long journey working with partners to realise the installation of the first turbine. I am proud to see our employees being part of this exciting initiative by giving back to the community because sustainable programs deliver long-term benefits,” Deo Onyango, GE Onshore Wind Director, Sub-Sahara Africa said.
GE Renewable Energy is providing 60 of its highly efficient GE 1.7-103 turbines to the Kipeto project, providing power to the equivalent of approximately 40,000 homes in the region.
The 100MW Kipeto wind power project will provide clean energy to the national grid as a significant contribution to Kenya’s Vision 2030 and Big Four Agenda.