Kenya has reopened the adviser tender for the proposed KSh337 billion High Grand Falls hydropower and irrigation project, with proposals due on 24 November 2026.
Kenya has reopened the High Grand Falls Dam adviser tender, seeking transaction advisers to structure the proposed KSh337 billion hydropower and irrigation project as a competitive public-private partnership (PPP).
Kenya’s National Treasury has reopened procurement for transaction advisers for the proposed KSh337 billion Kibuka (High Grand) Falls hydropower and irrigation dam. The move revives efforts to structure the project for competitive procurement under a public-private partnership (PPP).
A tender notice published on 27 October invites qualified consulting firms to submit proposals for transaction advisory services. The Treasury will hold a pre-bid meeting on 3 November. Proposals are due by 11 a.m. on 24 November 2026.
The advisers will help assess and structure the project before its subsequent procurement. However, their appointment would not constitute an award of the construction contract or authorisation to begin building the dam.
Hydropower and irrigation plans
The project would span an area along the Tana River in Tharaka-Nithi and Kitui counties. It would combine electricity generation with irrigation, water storage and flood management.
The National Treasury’s PPP project status report dated 10 April 2026 puts its estimated value at KSh337 billion. The report outlines an initial hydropower capacity of 500 MW. It also provides for potential expansion to 700 MW and subsequently 1,000 MW.
In addition, the report envisages a reservoir with approximately 5.6 billion cubic metres of storage capacity. It also outlines irrigation infrastructure covering about 400,000 acres.
The report identifies Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) as the contracting authorities. It lists the project for competitive bidding and designates it as a priority PPP under Kenya’s Fourth Medium-Term Plan.
However, these figures describe the proposed project’s planned scale rather than installed or contracted generating capacity.
Fresh procurement after earlier proposal terminated
The renewed procurement follows the termination of an earlier privately initiated proposal involving UK-based GBM Limited.
On 2 July 2025, Kenya’s PPP Committee approved the termination. It determined that the project development report did not meet several statutory requirements.
In a statement issued on 24 September 2025, the National Treasury said no binding PPP project agreement had been signed. It also said the contracting authority could resubmit the project for competitive procurement.
Subsequently, the government began seeking transaction advisers in March 2026. The Public Procurement Information Portal listed that procurement under reference RFP NO. PPPD/0&S/RFP/06/2025-2026. However, the record is now marked as terminated.
The latest tender therefore represents a renewed attempt to advance the project through competitive PPP procurement. The process will help determine how the project is structured and brought to market.
For investors and infrastructure developers, the immediate opportunity is the transaction advisory procurement rather than construction of the dam. Meanwhile, the project’s financing structure, implementation arrangements and any eventual construction award remain to be established.
