View source for Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant

{{Hero
| image = Air separation unit near Cape Canaveral.jpg
| alt = An Air Liquide air separation plant at Merritt Island, Florida, near the Cape Canaveral launch sites: a tall white cryogenic storage tank, a smaller horizontal tank and a tanker truck behind a fence. It illustrates the kind of plant proposed, not a site in Kenya.
| position = center
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{{Infobox project
| name = Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant (propellant supply for a Kenyan spaceport)
| status = proposed
| theme = Industry
| counties = Lamu, Tana River
| lead_organisation = Pwani 2050
| partners = None confirmed. The concept names Linde (through BOC Kenya) as a possible operator.
| budget =
| funding_source = Not yet identified
| start_year =
| end_year =
| website =
}}

The '''Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant''' is a project within the [[Industry]] theme. It is a proposal from the Pwani 2050 plan to produce liquid oxygen, the larger part of a modern rocket's propellant, for the proposed [[Lamu Spaceport]], using an air separation plant powered by solar energy, with methane for the same rockets imported as liquefied natural gas. The idea is set out in a concept note by Jay Shapiro, "Fuelling Lamu: Why Kenya is Uniquely Ready to Be the Next Spaceport" (June 2025), which argues that the coast can fuel heavy launches as well as host them. This page sets the note's figures beside other published figures. The largest difference concerns the energy needed: the note's estimate covers separating oxygen from air, and turning that oxygen into liquid adds substantially to the power required.

== What it is ==
Rockets such as SpaceX's Starship burn liquid methane with liquid oxygen (LOX). The concept note sizes a plant for a Starship-class operation launching once a day, about 300 launches a year. It proposes a cryogenic air separation plant, modelled on the one Linde built to supply SpaceX's Starbase in Texas, powered by a 120 MWp solar farm with battery storage in Garissa County, with the LOX trucked to the launch site along the LAPSSET highway. Desalinated seawater would supply the plant, with surplus water for nearby residents. Methane would be imported as LNG, through Lamu port or through Mombasa, where the new offshore Kipevu Oil Terminal II already handles crude, refined fuels and liquefied petroleum gas.

The table sets the note's main figures beside other published figures. Figures marked "derived" are calculated on this page from the cited inputs.

{| class="wikitable"
! Item !! Concept note (June 2025) !! Other published figures
|-
| Propellant per launch || 3,450 t LOX, 1,150 t methane || About 4,110 t LOX and 1,140 t methane (derived from a 3,650 t booster and a 1,600 t ship at a 3.6 to 1 mixture ratio)<ref name="wp-sh">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Super_Heavy SpaceX Super Heavy], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026 (citing NASASpaceFlight, 30 May 2025).</ref>
|-
| LOX a year at 300 launches || About 1 million t || About 1.23 million t (derived)
|-
| Energy per tonne of oxygen || About 200 kWh (separation of gaseous oxygen) || 245 kWh for high-purity gaseous oxygen;<ref name="beysel">[https://publications.ieaghg.org/docs/oxyfuel/OCC1/Plenary%201/Beysel_ASU_1stOxyfuel%20Cottbus.pdf Air Separation Units], Gerhard Beysel, Linde AG, 1st Oxyfuel Combustion Conference, Cottbus, 8 September 2009.</ref> about 915 kWh for liquid oxygen including liquefaction<ref name="shubov">[https://arxiv.org/pdf/2107.13513 Feasibility Study For Multiply Reusable Space Launch System], Mikhail V. Shubov, arXiv 2107.13513, 21 December 2021.</ref>
|-
| Continuous power for the plant || About 29 MW || About 35 MW for separation alone; about 120 to 157 MW including liquefaction (derived, at 700 to 915 kWh per tonne of LOX)
|-
| Renewable share of Kenya's grid || About 93 per cent || 93 per cent reported in December 2019 after the Garissa solar plant connected;<ref name="bd93">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/Kenya-green-energy-to-93pc/539546-5388324-u3nqph/index.html Garissa solar plant raises Kenya's green energy to 93pc], John Mutua, Business Daily, 16 December 2019.</ref> 84.93 per cent in July to December 2023;<ref name="psm">[https://publicsectormag.net/2024/04/12/kenya-84-93-of-energy-supplied-to-kenyas-national-grid-obtained-from-renewable-sources-epra-reports/ Kenya: 84.93% of energy supplied to Kenya's national grid obtained from renewable sources, EPRA reports], Public Sector Global, 12 April 2024.</ref> 80.48 per cent in 2024/25<ref name="hapa">[https://hapakenya.com/2025/09/30/epra-report-reveals-significant-growth-kenyas-energy-sector/ EPRA report reveals significant growth in Kenya's energy sector], Samson Nderi, HapaKenya, 30 September 2025.</ref>
|-
| Solar resource at Garissa || About 6 kWh per m² a day || About 5.7 kWh per m² a day, with PV output of about 4.4 kWh per kWp a day<ref name="gsa">[https://api.globalsolaratlas.info/data/lta?loc=-0.4569,39.6583 Long-term averages for Garissa], Global Solar Atlas (Solargis data), read 15 October 2026.</ref>
|-
| Output of a 120 MWp farm || Enough for 690 MWh a day || About 530 MWh a day before storage losses (derived)
|-
| Garissa to Lamu || Under 200 km || About 238 km in a straight line and about 356 km by today's roads (derived from map data)
|-
| Methane supply || LNG from Qatar, landed at Lamu or at Mombasa's Kipevu Oil Terminal II || Kipevu Oil Terminal II handles crude, fuels and LPG for ships up to 170,000 DWT;<ref name="kot2">[https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/mombasa%20port/51763/mt-marlin-sardinia-largest-vessel-docks-at-new-kipevu-oil-terminal-in-mombasa MT Marlin Sardinia: Largest vessel docks at new Kipevu Oil Terminal in Mombasa], Farhiya Hussein, The Eastleigh Voice, 18 June 2024.</ref> LNG would need added storage and regasification; Kenya's LNG plans centre on a Mombasa gas power station with supply not yet secured<ref name="bd-gas">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/industry/kenya-gears-up-for-tests-on-planned-natural-gas-plant-5437222 Kenya gears up for tests on planned natural gas plant], John Mutua, Business Daily, 26 April 2026.</ref>
|}

Kenya's grid is widely described as more than 90 per cent renewable, a level first reported in 2019;<ref name="bd93" /> the regulator's figures for recent years are lower, about 81 to 85 per cent, as drought cut hydropower and imports rose.<ref name="psm" /><ref name="hapa" /> The 200 kWh figure in the note is in line with published values for separating oxygen as a gas;<ref name="beysel" /> producing liquid oxygen also requires liquefaction, which one published estimate puts at a further 525 kWh per tonne.<ref name="shubov" /> On those figures the solar farm would need to be larger than the note's 120 MWp, roughly 700 to 950 MWp with more storage if the plant were run wholly on its own solar power, or the plant could draw part of its load from the grid (derived; the existing Garissa plant uses about 81 hectares for 50 MW).<ref name="pvmag">[https://www.pv-magazine.com/2017/04/21/cjic-starts-construction-of-kenyas-first-large-scale-pv-plant/ CJIC starts construction of Kenya's first large-scale PV plant], Emiliano Bellini, pv magazine, 21 April 2017.</ref>

== Rationale ==
The note's case is that Kenya can fuel launches as well as host them, and that this is a competitive advantage. It points to Linde's long presence in Kenya through BOC Kenya, founded in Mombasa in 1940 and part of the Linde Group;<ref name="boc">[https://www.boc.co.ke/our-business/overview-of-boc-kenya Overview of BOC Kenya], BOC Kenya Plc, read 15 October 2026.</ref> to Kenya's largely renewable grid; to cheap solar power in the north-east; and to Lamu's deep-water port for LNG imports. The government's own energy plan supports part of this picture: the draft National Energy Compact aims to move the grid from 83 per cent to 100 per cent clean sources by 2030, using LNG "as a transition fuel".<ref name="compact">[[:File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf|Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 (draft)]], Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, July 2025, PDF pages 2 and 5.</ref>

The note's reference model is the air separation plant Linde built near SpaceX's Starbase in Texas. That plant sits close to the launch site it serves, rather than hundreds of kilometres away, which is the main way the model differs from the concept.

== Status and timeline ==
The plant exists only as a concept. The spaceport it would serve is at the feasibility stage. The National Treasury's Terms of Reference for a transaction adviser, issued in December 2025, place the spaceport "in the general area of Kipini, between Malindi and Lamu", which is in Tana River County.<ref name="tor">[[:File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf|Terms of Reference: Transaction Advisory Services for Development of a Commercial Spaceport]], Kenya Space Agency and National Treasury, December 2025, page 3.</ref> The Terms of Reference mention solid and liquid propellant launch vehicles including sounding rockets, which suggests smaller launchers than Starship.<ref name="tor" /> Space in Africa reported in October 2026 that the PPP Directorate and the Kenya Space Agency had signed a funding agreement to onboard the transaction adviser; no launch operator has been named.<ref>[https://spaceinafrica.com/?p=147524 Kenya Advances Its Commercial Spaceport Plans With New Funding Agreement], Rihab Ben Moussa, Space in Africa, 2 October 2026.</ref>

BOC Kenya says its immediate majority shareholder is BOC Holdings of the United Kingdom, part of the Linde Group, and lists operations in Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu and neighbouring countries; it gives no oxygen production capacity.<ref name="boc" /> Its operations are far smaller than the proposed plant.

=== How the project would be procured ===
There is no Terms of Reference, feasibility study or budget for a propellant plant. Propellant supply would normally be settled between the spaceport operator, its launch customers and an industrial gas company, and could be folded into the spaceport public private partnership that the transaction adviser is now preparing.<ref name="tor" />

== Who is involved ==
The concept comes from the Pwani 2050 plan. The Kenya Space Agency and the National Treasury's PPP Directorate lead the spaceport.<ref name="tor" /> Linde, through BOC Kenya, is the obvious industrial gas partner but has made no statement about the idea.<ref name="boc" /> The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum sets LNG policy.<ref name="compact" />

* [https://ksa.go.ke/ Kenya Space Agency]
* [https://www.boc.co.ke/ BOC Kenya]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has commented in public on this proposal. The points below come from the official record and from coverage of the places and industries it depends on.

=== Scale and power ===
Including liquefaction, the power need of roughly 120 to 157 MW is comparable to a large geothermal plant, for a single customer. A plant that size would compete with the rest of the grid for clean power, and the grid's renewable share is itself partly imported: Kenya bought 1,274 GWh from Ethiopia in 2024/25.<ref name="hapa" /> Daily Starship launches from Kenya are an assumption with no operator behind it; the conference paper the note relies on argues for an equatorial spaceport in general and does not show any launch company's commitment.<ref>[[:File:CASE STUDY FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO ESTABLISH AN EQUATORIAL - IAC.pdf|Case Study for Public Private Partnership to Establish an Equatorial Spaceport]], Meshack Ndiritu and Selina Hayes, 75th International Astronautical Congress, 2024.</ref>

=== Transport and safety ===
At about 20 to 25 tonnes per road tanker, about 4,100 tonnes of LOX a day would mean roughly 165 to 205 tanker loads every day (derived). LOX is a strong oxidiser, and bulk volumes are normally made close to where they are used. The road from Garissa to Lamu is largely unbuilt: about 88 km of the first 410 km section was complete in October 2025,<ref>[https://africasustainabilitymatters.com/kenya-fast-tracks-sh28-billion-lapsset-corridor/ Kenya fast-tracks Sh28 billion LAPSSET corridor], Carlton Oloo, Africa Sustainability Matters, 7 October 2025.</ref> and the Auditor-General found the Lamu to Garissa to Isiolo highway "either not completed or is yet to start", with al-Shabaab attacks on road crews disrupting work.<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-07-27-lapsset-gamechanger-project-a-pipedream-as-key-projects-stall LAPSSET gamechanger project a pipedream as key projects stall], Eliud Kibii, The Star, 27 July 2025.</ref> Siting the plant beside the launch site, as at Starbase, would avoid the haul but move the solar farm's power onto the grid.

=== Land and communities in Garissa ===
Residents of Raya, beside the existing Garissa solar plant, protested in November 2025 that they had been pressured into giving up land, that 376 landowners hosting power lines had not been compensated, and that promised schools, a dispensary, jobs and electricity had not arrived; the report carried no government response.<ref>[https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/garissa%20county/237786/angry-raya-residents-accuse-government-of-betrayal-over-garissa-solar-project Angry Raya residents accuse Government of betrayal over Garissa solar project], Issa Hussein, Eastleigh Voice, 8 November 2025.</ref> A solar farm many times larger would fall on pastoral community land.

=== Water and methane ===
A plant of this size needs cooling water, so it would depend on new desalination on a dry coast, which adds its own power demand. On methane, Kipevu Oil Terminal II gives Mombasa a modern offshore berth for large tankers, but it does not yet handle LNG, and no long-term LNG supply contract for Kenya has been published. Kenya's current LNG plan is a 1,200 MW power station at Dongo Kundu with no gas supply yet secured.<ref name="bd-gas" /> Using imported fossil methane also weakens the concept's claim to be a clean, renewable-powered operation.

== Sources ==
* [[:File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf|Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 (draft)]], Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, July 2025.
* [[:File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf|Terms of Reference for the commercial spaceport]], Kenya Space Agency and National Treasury, December 2025.
* [[:File:CASE STUDY FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO ESTABLISH AN EQUATORIAL - IAC.pdf|Case Study for Public Private Partnership to Establish an Equatorial Spaceport]], Ndiritu and Hayes, 2024.
* Jay Shapiro, "Fuelling Lamu: Why Kenya is Uniquely Ready to Be the Next Spaceport", concept note, June 2025 (unpublished).
* [https://publications.ieaghg.org/docs/oxyfuel/OCC1/Plenary%201/Beysel_ASU_1stOxyfuel%20Cottbus.pdf Air Separation Units], Gerhard Beysel, Linde AG, 2009.

== References ==
<references />