Kenya's KenGen eyes 3 GW of renewables under 10-year plan

Kenyan utility Kenya Electricity Generating Company Plc (KenGen) on Thursday unveiled a plan to add 3 GW of renewable power generation capacity to the grid over a 10-year period, mostly from hydro and geothermal sources.

The state-owned power utility intends to deploy up to 2 GW of geothermal and hydropower plants to provide baseload power, focusing its efforts on the Rift Valley region that runs from the country’s northern to southern areas. The specific region is estimated to have a geothermal potential of 10 GW, with less than 1 GW of it having been exploited so far. In order to develop that potential, the acquisition of new fields will be one of KenGen’s main priorities in 2023.

“Our focus going forward is to secure the baseload capacity to stabilise Kenya’s energy supply mainly from green renewable energy,” said Abraham Serem, KenGen’s managing director and CEO.

Also on KenGen’s agenda will be the rehabilitation of existing hydropower stations, among which is the 45-MW Olkaria I, in order to make them more efficient. The company will aim to expand some hydropower facilities within the Tana River basin, as well.

The Kenyan utility currently has 1.9 GW of installed capacity, including 826 MW of hydro, 799 MW of geothermal and 25.5 MW of wind.

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