At the same time, KenGen, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange , says it has put in place plans to optimize the existing hydro sources even as it pushes for the development of new hydropower stations, and expansion of existing ones, particularly within the Tana River basin.
With a great potential of 10 GW for geothermal, it is really great to see Kenya move to unlock this potential. Private developers are now also working on the Menengai field., a leading private power company in Africa, recently announced that it has signed financing agreements with the African Development Bank , the Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank and Finnfund, with regard to the $72 million debt funding for the 35 MW Menengai geothermal project in Nakuru County, Kenya.
“We will also be rolling out plans to up-rate the turbines for the Olkaria I additional units 4 and 5 and Olkaria IV power plants to increase their output by an additional 40MW,” said Mr. Serem, adding that all this was part of the wider plan to stabilize Kenya’s energy supply and catalyze the country’s economic growth. On the western side of the country, KenGen has announced plans to rehabilitate its Gogo hydropower plant to increase its capacity by about 8 MW from the current 2 MW.
“We are happy to see our teams deliver the same level of success in other countries as we do here at home in Olkaria where we have also drilled more than 320 geothermal wells to depths of 3,000 meters,” said Mr. Serem, adding, “In geothermal drilling, successful drilling of the first well is a major milestone as it gives the engineers and scientists more insights of the terrain to inform the drilling of the successive wells.
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