East Africa’s largest ever solar project has been unveiled at a Kenyan tea farm.

The 1MWp solar PV project serves Williamson Tea’s Changoi Tea Farm in Bomet County, Western Kenya.

British-based clean energy firm Solarcentury has installed the project, which is expected to cut Williamson Tea’s energy costs by approximately 30%.

The solar farm is planned to work with diesel generators and in parallel with the grid in cases of power cuts.

Solarcentury has been the lead designer, supplier and installer of the PV system, and is also responsible for its operation and maintenance. Meanwhile, local solar companies East African Solar and Azimuth Power were also involved in the development of the solar farm.

“This innovative use of solar engineering is only the sixth system of its kind to be built in the world,” says Solarcentury in a press statement.

Frans van den Heuvel, Solarcentury chief executive officer, said, “Williamson Tea’s solar farm in Changoi is a shining example of the opportunity for solar in Africa, and indeed the emerging markets, to help meet the increasing energy demands of growing economies.”

Development of this solar project has come amid Kenya’s critical national power shortage.

The country’s sole electricity provider Kenya Power supplies 1,250 megawatts of power to over 2 million customers against a demand of 1,700 megawatts, according to Reuters.