After months of fighting over management
at the Geothermal Development Company, calm seems to have returned and
work ready to start.
The fight, which pitted the board
against the management, threatened to derail the operations of the
company that is at the centre of the country's economic growth plans.
GDC will play a major role in realising the country's goal of producing 5,000MW to boost power supply to industries.
In an interview with Smart Company,
GDC's chief executive officer, Dr Silas Simiyu, said the company is now
on course to meet the country’s power deficit that has for years held
back industrial expansion.
“We need to be an
energy-independent country. That is the only way we can become a
progressive society. This is what we will deliver,” he said.
NOT AN EASY TASK
Dr
Simiyu’s task at GDC is not an easy one. He is charged with ensuring
that the country generates at least 5,000MW from geothermal sources in
the next 17 years.
Is he equal to the task? The greatest asset in his toolbox is his more than 25 years of experience in energy generation.
He
was instrumental in the establishment of the 35MW Olkaria II power
plants and the drilling of 62 wells for the upcoming 280MW Olkaria IV
and V power plants.
Fulfilling the ambitious power
project will nonetheless not be a walk in the park for Dr Simiyu. One of
his challenges was the raging war between the management and the board.
He has been accused of presiding over procurement flaws at the company and ignoring the board in running the company.
DRILLING RIGS
In
March, he appeared before a parliamentary committee on public
investments to defend a multi-billion-shilling contract the company
entered with a Chinese firm, Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment Company
Ltd, to supply drilling rigs.
But the 52-year-old CEO sees these as just hurdles in a race he has to complete “for the good of the country.”
“As
a leader, you are not going to please everyone. If you stop to chase
all the barking dogs, you’ll not reach your destination,” he said.
Currently, Kenya only extracts about 20 per cent of the total 1,300MW power generated from geothermal sources.
The
greatest challenge, Dr Simiyu says, is that geothermal generation is
highly specialised and capital-intensive. It, therefore, demands special
training, which is not available in the country, he added.
A
PhD holder in applied geophysics from the University of Texas, Dr
Simiyu said the government should invest in the training of more experts
in local universities.
LOCAL TRAINING
The
GDC boss also has a master of science and a bachelor of science degree
in physics and geology from the University of Nairobi, a diploma in
geothermal geophysics from the United Nations University in Iceland, and
has served as a post-doctoral fellow in seismology at Duke University,
USA.
GDC has initiated a local training programme in
collaboration with the United Nations University in Iceland, where
experts from Africa will be trained.
“All major
economies thrive because of abundance of energy. Coal was instrumental
in Europe’s industrial revolution. We want geothermal to achieve the
same for Kenya,” Simiyu said.
The company, he said, is
also setting up a regional training centre in Nakuru to bring up
qualified practitioners to guide the country’s journey towards becoming a
geothermal powerhouse.
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