- Kenya’s Geothermal Development Company (GDC) Managing Director, Jared Otheino, appealed to investors to establish industrial parks in the Menengai and Baringo-Silali geothermal areas for direct energy use applications.
- This includes bitcoin mining operations. Read more.
- Otheino was speaking at the at the Kenya Geothermal Congress 2022.
GDC is currently piloting five prototypes for the use of geothermal steam for milk pasteurization, heating of greenhouses, aquaculture ponds, laundromats, and the drying of cereals. The goal of these pilot tests is to help in the commercialization of geothermal energy for direct use.
Othieno highlighted that that the GDC has drilled over 50 wells in Menengai and have 170 MW of steam at the wellheads. Plans of generating 105 MWe from this resource is on course, with one Independent Power Producer (IPP) already constructing a 35-MW power plant. The power plant of Sosian Menengai is expected to start commissioning by the 1st quarter of 2023.
KenGen recently commissioned unit 83MW Olkaria 1 geothermal power plant. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
