- Construction of the project to be done in three phases was scheduled to commence in March 2018.
- Once complete, the installation will generate clean and affordable electricity for about 750,000 Kenyans.
Image: COURTESY
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will on Thursday preside over the ground-breaking of Menengai geothermal project in Nakuru.
It is the second largest scale geothermal field being developed after Olkaria.
The 35-megawatt project being is developed by Globeleq, an African-independent power producer (IPP) at a cost of $108 million (Sh14.1 billion).
Commercial operation of the project, which will deploy a steam turbine and generator manufactured by Fuji Electric, is planned for 2025.
Steam for the project will be supplied to the project by Kenya’s state-owned Geothermal Development Company (GDC) under a 25-year project implementation and steam supply agreement.
“Once operational, electricity will be sold to Kenya Power, the national distribution company, under a power purchase agreement for the same timeframe,” a statement from Globeleq states.
Globeleq’s Menengai project is part of Kenya’s commitment, announced at COP27 in November 2022, to fast-track green investment projects worth $3.99 billion (Sh519.8 billion).
Financing agreements for the project were signed in December 2022 with African Development Bank (AfDB), the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, and Finnfund.
Construction of the project to be done in three phases was scheduled to commence in March 2018 with the development of the field having begun in 2009.
The goal is to achieve 465 MW of Geothermal steam.
Once complete, the installation will generate clean and affordable electricity for about 750,000 Kenyans.
Geothermal Development Corporation (GDC) has said it has already created 25 kilometres of a steam delivery system that supplies steam to the power plants.