Chinese firm bags Sh12 billion KenGen pipelines contract
Photo/File
The KenGen plant at Olkaria. A Chinese company has won a tender to install pipes linking the wells at the station.
Chinese firm Sinopec International Petroleum Company has won a Sh12 billion ($140 million) contract to install a piping system linking the geothermal wells in the Olkaria power project.
The works will comprise building a 40-kilometre pipeline linking 57 geothermal wells, steam separators and steam field control systems. This is the final contract that power generating company, KenGen, has awarded in the Sh50 billion Olkaria project.
The construction, set to be completed within 20 months, was financed by the World Bank and KfW of Germany.
“We already have sufficient steam to generate over 380 megawatts of geothermal power in Olkaria,” said the KenGen managing director, Eddy Njoroge, after signing the contract which he said had been competitively tendered and won by the Chinese firm.
Other contracts for the drilling of wells, construction of power plants and the electricity distribution network have already been awarded to different companies and the works are at different stages of completion.
Geothermal plants
In November last year, Japanese trading firm, Toyota Tsusho Corp and Hyundai Engineering Co of South Korea were awarded the biggest contract in the power project of building geothermal plants at a cost Sh40 billion.
Other contracts awarded include the Sh2 billion transmission lines and power substations projects won by KEC International of India, and Sh1.5 billion given to Sinclair Mertz of New Zealand for the overall management of the project.
Geothermal capacity in the area will rise to a total of 430 MW from the current 150 MW by April 2014, when commercial operation is expected to start in what will help curb the increased use of expensive, but cheaper to install thermal power.
“With such a huge boost from this clean, reliable and competitively priced form of electricity, consumer prices will ease as the country will require less generation from the more expensive sources,” said Mr Njoroge.
Currently, Kenya has a generating capacity of about 1,100 MW, with hydro-power accounting for nearly half of the supply.
But lack of water due to droughts has recently reduced supply of hydro power, prompting the country to often turn to expensive, fuel-driven generators to match the rising demand for electricity.
Kenya has a potential to generate 7,000 MW from geothermal power and is targeting production of at least 5,000 MW by 2030.
