Italy’s Enel Green Power SpA (EGP) and US firm Powerhive Inc will build and operate solar mini-grids totaling 1 MW in 100 villages in western Kenya’s counties of Kisii and Nyamira in 2016,  an investment worth $12m, SeeNewsRenewables reported.

Enel will contribute 93 % of the required investment, while project developer Powerhive will cover the remaining sum.

The grids are designed to bring clean energy to 20,000 households, small businesses, schools, and healthcare centers, Enel Green Power said in an statement.

The integration of mini-grids with energy storage facilities will allow this system to balance supply and demand thus reducing volatility and offset variations in customer loads and unpredictable fluctuations in power generation, which are intrinsic when producing power from renewable sources.