KenGen supporting five countries explore geothermal power

Engineers from Kengen work on one of the geothermal wells in Olkaria Naivasha. [File, Standard] The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) is supporting five African countries in geothermal exploration as part of its commitment to phasing out thermal power. Tanzania and Zambia are the latest countries to receive the support from KenGen which boast of technological savvy and decade's old expertise in geothermal exploration. The move is in line with commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement (2015), which seeks to enable countries to reduce their carbon emissions footprints, limit global temperatures and reverse climate-induced calamities. Currently, Kenya leads the region by generating 754 megawatts of geothermal power, with plans to double its green energy power sources to 1,500 megawatts by the year 2034. According to CEO Eng Peter Njenga, KenGen had been awarded exploration rights in Zambia and Tanzania while drilling was ongoing on Ethiopia, Djibouti and E-swatini. He said KenGen would deploy its technological support and decades-old expertise to assist the five countries' transition to clean energy sources. "We successfully supported Ethiopia and Djibouti, and our next stop is E-swatini, which has high potential of geothermal energy," he said. Speaking in Naivasha, Njenga said the company was on course in rehabilitation of the old Olkaria 1 power plant which once complete will see it increase its power generation from the current 45MW to 63MW. "The rehabilitation of the old Olkaria 1 power plant is 50 percent complete, and it aims to add 18Mw more to our national grid from current 45MW to 63MW by 2026", said Njenga. In addition, Njenga said that KenGen was seeking funding from investors to actualize its 10 years' strategic plan which aims to increase green energy power generation by 1,500MW. On the transition to tapping clean energy use and reducing carbon emissions footprints in the environment, KenGen has also started plans of changing its fuel-driven fleet to green-powered ones. According to the company's Assistant Manager for Transport, Sandis Mukhongo, they have already rolled out plans to procure clean energy powered cars to run its operations to achieve a carbon-free fleet in coming years. Mukhongo said that KenGen is seeking more partnerships to accelerate the establishment of necessary infrastructure including Electric Vehicle (EVs) charging stations across the country. "We already have several electronic vehicles in our fleet, and we plan to add more as we construct extra charging points in the country," he said. Currently, the country's installed energy capacity stands at 1726MW, consisting of 754MW of geothermal, 826MW hydro, 120MW thermal and 25MW wind.

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