Laurie Hietter, Panorama Principal, attended the Kenya Electricity Generating Company’s (KenGen) Geothermal Board of Consultants meeting in Naivasha this March. The members of the Board toured the Olkaria geothermal field, the Eburru power plant, as well as their wellhead generators. KenGen has now added 280 MW of geothermal power to the national grid with Olkaria IV providing 140 MW and the expansion of Olkaria I units 4 and 5 with an additional 140 MW. The implementation of these geothermal power projects reduces electricity costs and stabilizes Kenya’s power supply by lowering its reliance on hydro power, which is reduced in times of drought.
KenGen also saw success with their wellhead power generation and plans to install units in other areas to increase electricity generation. The wellhead technology makes use of the time between well drilling and plant construction to harvest the steam for immediate use and source of revenue while the power plant is constructed.
Within the community, KenGen was involved in relocating a small village of Masaai people and building a school, a community center, and cinder block homes for them. For updates on geothermal power and KenGen, revisit our blog when Laurie returns to Kenya again late this summer!
Explore Panorama’s experience with geothermal development projects on the links below: