KenGen to pump another 42MW from solar to the national grid

Visiting German Vice Chancellor Dr Robert Habeck (C) joins senior government officers and a high powered delegation of investors in a tour of the geothermal rich area of Olkaria, Naivasha on 2nd December 2024. He said that Germany would support the country in its expertise in production of geothermal and solar energy. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

The push for green energy has received a major boost after the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) announced plans to tap into the national grid an extra 42 megawatts (MW) in the next one year.

The solar energy will be sourced from the Seven Forks Hydroelectric Complex in lower Tana as the government moves to phase out thermal power.

This comes days after the power generating company announced that it had obtained funding for the generation of 300MW from geothermal.

According to KenGen chief executive Peter Njenga, plans for the solar plant were at an advanced stage after successful visibility studies around the region. Njenga noted that demand for electricity in the country was on the rise hence the need to increase production as more investors sought opportunities in the country.

“The solar and hydro-power will complement each other with the former coming in handy during the day and thus saving the water levels in the dams,” he said.

Speaking in Olkaria Naivasha, Njenga said the industrial park in Olkaria was becoming a reality with investors getting full-time geothermal power at a subsidised cost. “Fourteen companies have shown interest in the green industrial park and we have embarked on working on roads and supply of water,” he said. Speaking earlier, company chairman Frank Konuche said infrastructural works on the park had kicked off with the first firm expected in the next 18 months.

Konuche noted that plans were underway for the construction of the Olkaria VII power plant which would pump into the national grid an extra 70MW.

He said rehabilitation works of the oldest power plant Olkaria I were at an advanced stage with projections that it would produce 63MW from the current 45MW.