KenGen has downplayed an accident that occurred at Olkaria V power plant in Naivasha noting that the situation was under control and run-tests had resumed.
Though admitting the fatality could delay the commissioning of the plant, KenGen said all necessary safety measures had been put in place. This came as eight of injured workers from H-Young Company which has been contracted to construct the plant were discharged from hospital.
The accident occurred after one of the steam pipes blew up as the engineers were preparing one of the units in order to step up power from 43MW to 65MW.
In a statement, KenGen CEO Rebecca Miano said the test process had resumed following the accident that temporarily paralyzed operations. Miano said they were optimistic the ongoing commissioning tests which were in the last stages would be concluded in time.
“We are confident that the ongoing tests on Sh40 billion power plant will be concluded in time for commissioning albeit with slight delays as a result of the unforeseen incident,” she said.
The CEO noted that upon completion of the 165MW Olkaria V, KenGen’s installed geothermal capacity will be 680MW.
According to her, this would tilt the company’s scale to about 1,790MW adding that KenGen’s current installed capacity was 1,631MW.
