An existing geothermal power plant in Kenya. (Image credit: afrepren.org)

Kenya's active geothermal capacity at the moment is 167 MW, from three production sites at the Olkaria geothermal field, some 60 km northwest of the capital Nairobi. The country's total geothermal potential is about 7 GW, so there is plenty more to harness in the future.

In order to ensure clean and reliable energy supplies in the decades to come, Kenya is planning to increase its installed geothermal capacity to 4 Gw over the next two decades, according to Geothermal Development Company, a local geothermal energy developer.

In order make this plan a reality, Kenya will need a total of USD 16 billion in private investments and donations. Drought conditions have seriously reduced the country's hydropower potential, otherwise the major source of electricity in the country. This situation has been seen in many parts of the world, such as South-East Asia, where whole regions are now trying to tap into alternative energy sources, to compensate for the drop in hydropower potential.

The first step in the "4 GW from geothermal by 2029" is the development of two more sites in Olkaria, with the estimated combined potential of about 350 MW. This project will cost about USD 850 million, which has been promised as grants and loans by foreign aid agencies. Of the three operational geothermal energy sites mentioned earlier, two are operated by Kenya Electricity Generating Company, and one by the Israely company Ormat Industries.

Two drilling rigs have been hired from Great Wall Drilling Company, a unit of the China National Petroleum Coroporation, for the purpose of digging as many as 50 wells in the area by the end of the year. Kenya is planning to buy its own drilling equipment, again with financial help from outside, this time from France.

If geothermal capacity is going to increase to 2 GW by 2014, Kenya is going to need USD 5 billion. The country still has a low citizens/electrical connections ratio.

[source: Bloomberg]