Daewoo International signs deal to build $1.3 bln Kenyan power station

SEOUL Nov 19 (Reuters) - South Korea's Daewoo International signed a deal to build a $1.3 billion power station in Kilifi County, Kenya with the Kenyan Electricity Generating Company, Daewoo said Monday.

The coal-fired power station will be the largest in East Africa, with two turbines each producing 300 megawatts, the Kenyan Prime Minister's office said in a statement.

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who was in Seoul on Sunday to sign the agreement, said the new power station is seen playing a key role in the Kenyan government's objective to add 1,500 megawatts of new power capacity by 2019.

South Korean builders have been stepping up its reach in securing African construction projects, with total value of deals signed as of Nov. 18 up 28 percent from 2011 according to the International Contractors Association of Korea.

South Korean companies are competing with the likes of China and Brazil for resources in fast-growing Africa as well as for contracts and Korea has stepped up aid and its diplomatic presence in the continent. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by David Chance)