K&M Advisors retained as transaction advisor for Olkaria VI 140 MW Geothermal power plant in Kenya

K&M Advisors LLC, a financial and technical advisory firm, has announced that it has been awarded a contract by The National Treasury in Kenya and KenGen to serve as the transaction advisor for the Olkaria VI 140 MW geothermal power plant.

K&M’s scope of work includes preparing a feasibility study to establish the technical configuration, commercial attractiveness and bankability of the Olkaria VI project. The feasibility study will include a grid connection study and advice on the grid capability to accommodate additional power. K&M’s scope also incudes recommending the best Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model and advising KenGen on risk allocation and the contractual structure, as well as preparing all necessary project agreements. K&M will also prepare the request for qualifications and request for proposals, and advise KenGen through the procurement process and proposal evaluation, as well as provide transaction advisory support through to financial close. This assignment is expected to last approximately 18 months.

Alfonso Guzman, President of K&M Advisors LLC, said: 

“We are very pleased to have been selected by the National Treasury and KenGen to advise them on the Olkaria VI competitively procured PPP transaction that will deliver much needed renewable energy to Kenya.”

The Olkaria VI power plant will be developed through a PPP arrangement governed by the PPP Act, 2013. The private partner will have a role on the design, finance, supply, construction, commissioning and maintenance of the plant, and in building a grid interconnection of approximately 5km (including the substation, switch gears and the associated facilities). K&M will advise KenGen on the design of a bankable PPP option that best meets KenGen’s objectives.

K&M’s team includes AECOM (technical advisor), and ACMIRS (PPP advisor).

K&M Advisors has a hard-to-match track record as transaction advisor for thermal power plants, including power plants in Africa. K&M has been the lead transaction advisor on eighteen thermal power generation PPP projects in emerging markets, all of which reached financial close, totaling 7,221 MW of capacity and over US$6.5 billion of investment. In East Africa, K&M is currently the transaction advisor to TANESCO on the development of a 250MW CCGT PPP.  K&M’s scope of work on this project is very similar to the scope of work on the Olkaria VI project.