The construction of 83MW geothermal power plant in Olkaria took shape on 4 December 2018 after President Uhuru Kenyatta broke the ground for the green project.
The Olkaria 1 Additional Unit 6 plant, slated for completion in 2021, will complement the 140MW injected to the national grid after completion of 140MW Olkaria I Unit 4 and 5 by Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC.
This brings Kengen’s installed energy capacity to 1,631MW; 818MW composed of hydro, geothermal (534MW), thermal (253.5MW) and wind at 25.5MW. The country’s total installed capacity is 2,370MW.
Speaking at the ceremony this morning, President Kenyatta lauded the company’s contribution to Kenya’s energy security.
KenGen is planning to add another 720 MW to the national grid in the medium term, mainly from green sources. “These plans resonate well with our development agenda which heavily depends on energy for actualisation. Besides, geothermal, which is one of Kenya’s major sources, is a stable source of energy,” President Uhuru said.
Energy Cabinet Secretary said that the government had formulated strategies geared towards rapidly expanding the country’s power capacity further hinting on plans to start the construction of Olkaria 8 in the near future.
“These strategies will further expand and upgrade transmission and distribution networks and also develop renewable sources of energy,” he added.
The Managing Director, Mrs Rebecca Miano, said the construction of the additional power plant was aligned to the company’s long-term strategy for ensuring sustainable supply of renewable energy.
“KenGen has realised incremental growth in geothermal power, a major catalyst in meeting the country’s growing electricity demand,” she added.
The contract for engineering, procurement and construction of the Olkaria 1 Additional Unit 6 power plant has been awarded to a Japanese company, Marubeni Corporation.
The firm has considerable experience in the construction and power generation assets in solar, wind, hydro and biomass across the world with about 900MW geothermal power already commercialised in a number of economies globally.
