A geothermal power generation station at Ol Karia. KenGen says the price
of electricity should start dropping as thermal production drops. PHOTO
| FILE
By Simon Ciuri, sciuri@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- KenGen has added another 140 megawatts of geothermal power to the national grid, cutting demand for the expensive thermal sources by the same margin.
- The additional energy is part of the ambitious 280MW geothermal project that KenGen is implementing in Olkaria to scale up supply of cheap power.
- To accelerate its geothermal power production, KenGen has resorted to mobile wellhead plants which are faster to deploy.
The cost of power is set to fall after KenGen
added another 140 megawatts of geothermal power to the national grid,
cutting demand for the expensive thermal sources by the same margin.
The additional energy is part of the ambitious 280MW
geothermal project that KenGen is implementing in Olkaria to scale up
supply of cheap power.
“We have uploaded 140MW and the balance will be
fully commissioned and connected to the national grid before the end of
this year,” said KenGen managing director Albert Mugo in a statement.
“Kenyans should expect to see the cost of
electricity starting to decline in the coming months as geothermal
gradually replaces the expensive thermal power.”
The 140MW is from two of KenGen’s Olkaria units.
One has gone through reliability tests successfully while the other is
expected to complete tests mid-month.
Mr Mugo said two more units will be assessed in
September and October in a crash time-table which targets to commission
the entire 280 megawatts by December.
The announcement comes amid intensified campaigns
by KenGen to increase the component of renewable energy in the national
power generation mix.
The State has increased investments in wind, solar
and geothermal power and announced plans to completely retire all diesel
generators from its energy generation mix.
A study by global consulting firm McKinsey shows
that despite high capital requirement, geothermal sources are the
cheapest and most sustainable energy option for Kenya.
The report says generating steam power costs Sh5.38
(6.4 US cents) while hydro-power costs Sh10.50 (12.5 US cents) per
kilowatt hour.
KenGen has echoed these findings, saying that
geothermal energy being extracted at Olkaria is cost-efficient with a
tariff of about Sh6.10 (7 US cents) per unit.
To accelerate its geothermal power production,
KenGen has resorted to mobile wellhead plants which are faster to
deploy. These plants are expected to generate an additional 70MW,
bringing the total additional output from Olkaria to 350MW.
“This year alone, 25.6MW generated using this innovative method has been added to the national grid,” said Mr Mugo.
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