Kenya is set to host Africa’s first large-scale hybrid renewable energy plant to combine wind, solar and storage after a deal involving developers Windlab and Eurus Energy, said the project partners.

The 80MW Meru County Energy Park will deploy up to 20 wind turbines and 40,000 PV modules at a site in central Kenya that will power 200,000 homes.

The project will advance after a memorandum of understanding signed in Tokyo between Windlab East Africa, owned by Australia-based Windlab and Japanese developer Euru, the Kenyan Investment Authority and Meru County Government, which will have a stake in the project once it enters operations.

The project is due to enter construction in 2021. A statement from the partners does not specify any details of the technology to be deployed at the plant, which is being billed as “Africa’s first large-scale hybrid wind, solar PV and battery storage project”.

Windlab East Africa managing director Katherine Persson told Recharge: “We haven't made a final selection, the technology will be procured under a competitive tender in order to select the best and most competitive equipment for the site.”

Windlab is the developer behind the Kennedy Energy park in Australia, which claimed to be the world’s first on-grid wind, solar and battery plant when plans were unveiled in 2017. Kennedy uses turbines from Vestas and a Tesla battery.

Kenya is already host to the largest wind farm in Sub-Saharan Africa, the 310MW Lake Turkana project.