The proposed Lamu oil refinery could generate enough electricity to produce 1,000 megawatts, with billionaire Aliko Dangote saying Kenya's government may receive half of the power.
Dangote announced the plan on Friday, September 25, during President William Ruto's visit to his Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, Nigeria.
Ruto toured the Nigerian facility as preparations continued for the September 30 groundbreaking of the planned refinery in Lamu.
According to Dangote, the electricity project will be a major part of the Kenyan investment, with the plant expected to generate about 1,000MW from petroleum coke, also known as petcoke.
He said 500MW of the output could be sold to the Kenyan government.
“What we are going to have, the power plant in Lamu will be actually double (the one in Nigeria) because we are going to produce about 1000 megawatts in Lamu out of petcoke and we'll have 500 megawatts to sell to the government of Kenya,” he said.
President William Ruto with billionaire Aliko Dangote at Dangote refinery in Lagos on September 25, 2026.
PHOTO/PCS
Dangote said the Lamu project would go beyond refining crude oil, arguing that the presence of the refinery could encourage other companies to establish businesses around it.
“What this investment (Lamu refinery) will do for the Kenyans, it's not only the refinery; the refinery is like the gate. Once you open and have the refinery, you'll be shocked at how many people will know come and invest in Kenya,” Dangote said.
The proposed refinery is expected to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil each day.
Dangote also compared some of the machinery planned for Lamu with equipment already operating at his Nigerian refinery, saying some units in Kenya would be larger.
“Some of the equipment that we have here, like the RFCC, will be much heavier than the one in Lamu,” he said.
RFCC stands for Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking. It is a refinery process that helps turn heavier oil residues into lighter products such as gasoline and diesel.
Petcoke is a solid, carbon-rich material left over from the oil-refining process. It can be used as fuel for industrial power generation.
The proposed power plant is part of the wider industrial plans linked to the Lamu refinery, which is expected to draw additional businesses and investments around the facility.
Dangote's comments came as Ruto prepared for the next stage of the project after visiting the Lagos refinery. The Kenyan groundbreaking is scheduled for September 30.
The Lamu refinery has been reported to require an investment of between $15 billion (Sh1.9 trillion) and $17 billion (Sh2.2 trillion), with construction expected to take about three years.