Kenya: 79 MW Geothermal Power Comes on Stream from Olkaria V plant

Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr +
  • Kenya Electricity Generating Co (KenGen) announced yesterday that 79 MW generation capacity has been added to the national grid from a new geothermal plant
  • The Olkaria V plant in Kenyaโ€™s Rift Valley has been under construction since 2017. Synchronization to the grid started on the 28th June 2019 with the culmination of its first unit reaching its full design output this week.
  • The remaining 79MW making up a total of 158 MW is expected to be connected at the end of August 2019.

KenGen said the extra output from the first unit of Olkaria V will bring its total installed capacity from geothermal sources to 612MW.

KenGen, 70 percent owned by the government, has a total installed capacity of 1,693 MW and said last year it planned to add another 1,745 megawatts (MW) of electricity from geothermal sources by 2025.

Kenya has an installed generating capacity of 2,370 MW and peak demand of about 1,770MW. KenGen, which is 70 per cent owned by the Government, has an installed capacity of 1,631MW of which 70% comes from renewable sources. Demand for electricity is growing at about eight per cent a year, according to the World Bank’s data.

Kenya recently entered into an agreement to provide Ethiopia with geothermal drilling services. Read more

Related news: Court Stops 1050MW Lamu Coal Project in Kenya

Author: Bryan Groenendaal

Share.

Leave A Reply

About Author

Green Building Africa promotes the need for net carbon zero buildings and cities in Africa. We are fiercely independent and encourage outlying thinkers to contribute to the #netcarbonzero movement. Climate change is upon us and now is the time to react in a more diverse and broader approach to sustainability in the built environment. We challenge architects, property developers, urban planners, renewable energy professionals and green building specialists. We also challenge the funding houses and regulators and the role they play in facilitating investment into green projects. Lastly, we explore and investigate new technology and real-time data to speed up the journey in realising a net carbon zero environment for our children.

Copyright Green Building Africa 2024.