Kengen and GDC seeks 80mw from Baringo geothermal fields

The PS for Energy Alex Wachira (C) joins senior Kengen officers and contractors in touring Olkaria I power plant in Naivasha which is currently undergoing rehabilitation with plans to pump 63mw into the national grid once complete. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Kengen and Geothermal Development Company (GDC) will partner to pump an extra 87mw into the national grid from the geothermal-rich areas of Baringo.

Plans are underway to construct two power plants in Silali and Paka areas as demand for electricity in the country continues to increase.

According to the Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira, the next source of geothermal power from Olkaria Naivasha was in the Silali geothermal fields in Baringo.

He said that the fields had untapped geothermal power which would come in handy in completely phasing out thermal power and meeting the rising demand.

“We are hoping that Kengen can get at least the first opportunity to develop one or two power stations because we already have about 87MW worth of steam in Paka,” he said.

Speaking at the end of the Sustainable Energy Conference (SEC25) in Olkaria, Naivasha, the PS exuded confidence that the country would phase out thermal power in five years.

He said that currently, 93 per cent of electricity is renewable energy, adding that they were looking to bring on board more battery energy storage to preserve more power from geothermal wells.

“Kenya is a unique country where you hit a peak demand and within three to four hours, as the country goes to sleep, the power demand drops by close to a thousand megawatts,” he said.

On his part, Kengen MD Engineer Peter Njenga said that the power generation company was seeking another 40MW from hydro-power in the Webuye area.

“Our concentration of hydro power has been in the eastern region, along the Tana but we are looking in Webuye, where we have identified an area where we can generate 40mw,” he said.

Njenga added that through technology, the company could increase power production from the current geothermal and hydro-power plants in the country.

He pointed to the oldest geothermal power plant, Olkaria I in Naivasha, which was currently undergoing rehabilitation after being in operation for over 40 years.

“With the same amount of steam and through new technology, we expect this power plant to increase its production from 45mw to 63mw by June next year,” he said.

The MD added that Kengen was supporting neighboring countries in geothermal exploration and pointed to Tanzania and Eswatini as among those which had benefitted.

“We were in Eswatini to do geo-scientific studies and there is positive indication that they have geothermal resources and soon we shall be looking at Zambia and Malawi,” he said.