Construction of Olkaria V geothermal power plant, Kenya Oct. 2018 (source: LinkedIn/ Roberto Razo) In an interview in the East African, KenGen Managing Director & CEO Rebecca Miano talks about the ongoing project development and the targets in the immediate and medium term for her company.
She indicates, that most of the geothermal power projects that have been in the pipeline of KenGen are in various stages of implementation with a medium-term target of an additional 720 MW.
Currently, KenGen has an installed geothermal power generation capacity of 707 MW, with an additional 154 MW of capacity by private players.
KenGen is currently working on the construction for the Olkaria I Unit 6 geothermal power plant, which started in December 2018. The expected completion and start up is expected for 2021. The planned addition would be around 83 MW.
The situation of covid-19 has effected the implementation of projects, how or if this will require down-scaling or actual suspension of projects is still to be seen.
Geothermal energy has become the key source of income for KenGen with its geothermal energy-led strategy. At the same time KenGen is also looking at business diversification as can be seen with services being sold, such as drilling services for a geothermal project in Ethiopia. KenGen is looking at expanding that work offering geothermal drilling and consultancy services across Africa with a target of Uganda, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Zambia and the Comoros (Islands).
Source: The East African