Corporate News
A family moves into its new house in Kedong. KenGen has moved 150
families from the geothermal well exploration fields in Olkaria ending a
decade-long struggle to create room for expansion of the multi-billion
project. PHOTO | BD CORRESPONDENT
By Joyce Kimani
In Summary
- KenGen also plans to build three churches, a school and a dispensary for the relocated households.
- KenGen had acquired 1,700 acres in Kedong farm to resettle the families.
- The relocation paves the way for expansion of geothermal plants that the State has been banking on to pull down electricity tariffs.
Electricity generator, KenGen,
has moved 150 families from the geothermal well exploration fields in
Olkaria ending a decade-long struggle to create room for expansion of
the multi-billion project.
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Each family has been given a new two-bedroom house with a
kitchen and a living room on a one acre plot under the Resettlement
Action Plan partly funded by the World Bank and KenGen to a tune of Sh5
billion.
Double blessing
The furnished houses come as double blessing to
families who are currently living in makeshift houses (manyattas) which
lack electricity and piped water.
Olkaria Geothermal Plant manager Cyrus Kirongothi
said that KenGen would also build three churches, a school and a
dispensary for the relocated households.
“We wanted to pave the way for geothermal
exploration in the area and the place where the families lived had huge
geothermal reservoirs,” Mr Kirongothi said during the launch of the
relocation.
KenGen had acquired 1,700 acres in Kedong farm to resettle the families.
Among the villages that benefited from the project were Olosinyat, Olonmgonot, Cultural Centre and Olomaiyana Ndogo.
The relocation paves the way for expansion of
geothermal plants that the State has been banking on to pull down
electricity tariffs.
Last month, the firm connected 140 megawatts to the
national grid and announced plans to connect another 140MW by end of
this year.
The firm has also resorted to mobile wellhead plants, which are faster to deploy, to accelerate its geothermal power production.
The plants are expected to generate an additional 70MW, bringing the total additional output from Olkaria to 350MW.
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