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Treasury cancels Sh337bn High Grand Falls dam project
Masinga Dam spillway before it joins the Tana River in this picture taken on December 14, 2019. The cancelled High Grand Falls was to be built along the Tana River.
Construction of the Sh337 billion High Grand Falls dam has been terminated, dealing a blow to efforts to increase hydropower in the national grid and water for irrigation-fed agriculture in three surrounding counties.
Treasury disclosures show that the government approved termination of the project in the first week of this month, citing failure to meet a number of undisclosed conditions in the development plan.
GBM Limited of the United Kingdom was to build the dam.
High Grand Falls, which was to be built along the Tana River, was expected to generate 500 megawatts (MW) of hydropower, and later scaled up to 1,000MW. The dam would also provide upwards of 5,600 million cubic metres of water for irrigation schemes spanning 400,000 acres across the Kitui, Tharaka-Nithi and Embu counties.
“An evaluation of the report determined and concluded that the PDR (Project Development Report) did not meet a number of key requirements. On 2nd July 2025, the termination of the project was approved in accordance with Section 43(11)(c) of the PPP Act,” Treasury says.
The Treasury, however, adds that National Irrigation Authority –the contracting authority for the project— can invite bidders afresh in a competitive tender and revive the project.
“The contracting authority may, however, consider subjecting the project to an open competitive tender pursuant to Section 46 of the PPP Act, 2021,” Treasury added.
High Grand Falls dam was primed as key to helping shore up supply of cheap of hydroelectricity in the national grid, with a kilowatt set to cost $0.08 (Sh10.34 at prevailing exchange rates) from the earlier estimate of $0.12 (Sh15.51 at current exchange rates).
Locally-generated hydro is the cheapest source of electricity to the national grid at an average of Sh3.83 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) ahead of geothermal and imported hydropower at Sh10.28 and Sh10.69 per kWh respectively last year, according to official data.
Hydropower is the second biggest source of electricity, accounting for 24.74 percent of the 7,222.37 gigawatt-hours generated in the six months to December 2024. Geothermal held the biggest share at 39.81 percent.
A unit of water from the High Grand Falls dam was to cost $0.04 (Sh5.17 at prevailing rates) per cubic metre, a price that the government said would ensure cheap supply of water to investors in the surrounding counties.
GBM Limited was to partner with Power China and RCP Irrigation, a Portuguese firm. Power China built the Three Gorges Dam –the biggest hydro dam in China.
Construction of the High Grand Falls dam was privately initiated and the proposal accepted by the Public-Private Partnership Directorate in May 2023, paving the way for its progression to feasibility studies.
GBM Limited UK and its partners were to own and operate the High Grand Falls for 30 years, within which time they would recoup their investment before handing over the dam to the Kenyan government.
The High Grand Falls project was conceived in the 1950s, with construction originally planned to begin in 1992.
