Kengen adds 80mw to national grid

Kengen has pumped an extra 80 megawatts to the national grid to deal with the rising demand for power across the country.

Wellhead generators technology which was introduced in geothermal rich area of Olkaria in Naivasha has been identified as one such innovation that has increased power production.

According to the Energy CS Charles Keter, the technology has helped to partly recoup the enormous investment put in drilling the geothermal wells.

The CS praised the achievement on the 80mw wellheads technology noting that it cemented the company's leading position of renewable energy to meet national power requirements.

"I congratulate KenGen for connecting an additional 5Megawatts of geothermal energy to the grid from its innovative well head programme," he said.

He noted that the technology which entailed use of small power units ensured that generation could take place within as little as nine months from the time the well is tested.

This was contained in a speech read by one of the directors during the ongoing conference on Good to Great (G2G) innovation seminar that is being held at Enashipai Spa in Naivasha.

"I am glad to note that to date, four successful seminars have been held with over 180 innovation initiatives undergoing implementation," he said.

On his part, KENGEN MD Albert Mugo said the company had made up to Sh1B in cost-savings measures in the last financial year alone owing to employee-driven innovation.

Mugo said the company has realized increased revenue generation by implementing innovative solutions geared towards creating sustainable value for the fast evolving energy sector.

"We want to encourage our employees and partners to embrace and embed innovation by coming up with innovative ideas relating to new business models, new revenue generation and cost cutting measures," he said.

The MD said that one of the innovations that had being implemented included generating power through utilisation of brine.