Court Orders Fresh Hearing in Sh2.5bn KenGen Carbon Credits Tender Dispute

The Court of Appeal has ordered the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) to rehear a dispute over Kenya Electricity Generating Company's Sh2.5 billion (approximately $19.4 million) sale of carbon credits.

Sintmond Group had challenged its disqualification from the tender, which covers the sale of 6.38 million carbon credits and was eventually awarded to a joint venture between Munja Trading Limited and Marwil Energy Holding.

A three-judge appellate bench directed that the matter be heard afresh by a differently constituted panel, in a ruling dated July 10, 2026, setting aside an earlier High Court decision from May 20 that had backed Sintmond's disqualification.

KenGen disqualified Sintmond at the due diligence stage, arguing the firm had failed to demonstrate prior experience or capacity to manage a carbon credit sale of this scale.

The dispute centres on a bidder requirement known as MR-16, which was meant to establish prior experience handling Certified Emission Reduction (CER) or Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) transactions.

Certified Emission Reductions are tradable carbon credits issued under the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism, established through the Kyoto Protocol, with each unit representing one metric tonne of avoided or reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Voluntary Emission Reductions, by contrast, are carbon offset credits verified outside formal regulatory frameworks, typically through independent certification bodies rather than a United Nations mechanism.

This marks the fourth time the PPARB has handled the dispute between the two parties, with the tribunal having previously nullified the tender altogether before the case moved through the courts.

The credits in question span six projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism, including the Olkaria II geothermal expansion, redevelopment of the Tana hydropower station and the Ngong wind project, among others.

KenGen reported total revenues of Sh56.09 billion (approximately $433.6 million) for the year ended June 2025, and has said it wants non-electricity revenue streams, including carbon credit sales, to eventually account for a fifth of its total earnings.

The renewed PPARB hearing adds further delay to a tender process that has already stretched across multiple review rounds since it was first challenged.