SOUTH Korea Prime Minister Kim Hwang Sik and Kenya Electricity Generating Company (Kengen) managing director Eddy Njoroge view the Olkaria Geothermal power plant in Naivasha, Kenya. Kengen has launched the construction of an Sh82 billion Olkaria IV geothermal project, which is set to increase Kenya's total electricity output and meet the country’s ever increasing demand. File
Kenya Electricity Generating Company (Kengen) has launched the construction of an Sh82 billion Olkaria IV geothermal project, which is set to increase Kenya's total electricity output and meet the country’s ever increasing demand.
The project, whose construction was unveiled on Monday by President Mwai Kibaki, will add 280MW to the national grid once it is completed in 2014, raising the total output by 25 per cent.
“It’s the most significant power project ever undertaken in our country’s history. When completed it will raise our total generating capacity by 25 per cent at a go, pumping into the national grind 280MW of power in 2014,” said Eddy Njoroge, Kengen's chief executive.
Njoroge said the project will raise the geothermal contribution to the electricity basket from the current 10 per cent to up to 35 per cent, from the current 155MW to 435MW.
He observed that the project will firmly put Kenya on the path to Vision 2030, by providing affordable, reliable and adequate power as a key element to the attainment of this economic growth blueprint.
The implementation of the project has been divided into four parts. Steam field development will be carried out by Sinopec of China, while the power plant will be built by a consortium of Toyota Tshusho of Japan and Hyundai of South Korea.
Transmission lines and substation will be undertaken by KEC of India while Sinclair Knight Mertz of New Zealand is in-charge of the project consultancy.
The project has been financed by KenGen, the Kenya government, World Bank, KfW, EIB, AFD and JICA and will be completed in mid 2014.
Speaking at the function Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi said Kenya faces an acute shortage of electricity, with only 20 per cent of Kenya’s population connected.
“In some countries such as Egypt and Tunisia they have reached connectivity of up to 90 per cent,” said Murungi.
Kenya currently has an estimated total electricity output of 1500MW, with Kengen having plans to raise this to 3000 MW by 2015.
President Kibaki said although the launch is a major milestone, geothermal power remains largely unexploited with only a small percentage of the 10,000MW available capacity exploited.
He however said a major step has been taken in terms of electricity connectivity in the last ten years. “We have connected 1.2 million new customers in the last 10 years,” said the President.
Studies by Maanvit Consortium of Iceland have confirmed even more untapped geothermal resource at the Olkaria Complex, able to generate a further 560MW of electricity.
KenGen is planning to tap this resource and have at least half of its total output to be geothermal based by 2018.
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