Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station

The Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station, also known as Olkaria I Geothermal Power Plant is a geothermal power station in Kenya, with an installed capacity of 268.3 megawatts (359,800 hp).^[1][2]

Location

The facility is located in the Hell's Gate National Park along with its sister stations, Olkaria II and Olkaria III. This location lies in Olkaria, in Nakuru County, on the eastern edge of the Eastern Rift Valley, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi), by road, southwest of Naivasha, the nearest large town.^[3] Olkaria is approximately 121 kilometres (75 mi), by road, northwest of Nairobi.^[4]

Overview

Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station is one in a series of six geothermal power stations, clustered in the Olkaria area in Nakuru County. Four of the stations Olkaria I, Olkaria II, Olkaria III and Olkaria IV were operational, as of September 2017. As of 2020, the entire Olkaria complex had an installed capacity of 810.3 MW^[5][6] Olkaria V is under construction and Olkaria VI is planned for 2021.^[7]

History

The Olkaria I Power Station first started operation in 1981 running one Mitsubishi turbine with a generation capacity of 15MW. In 1982 and 1985, two more turbines identical to the first were commissioned at the facility, bringing the total generation capacity to 45MW.^[8] As of January 2015 unit 4 and 5 with a combined installed capacity of 140 Megawatts were inaugurated.^[9] This brings the total installed capacity of Olkaria I to 185 Megawatts.^[2]

In March 2016, the government of Kenya borrowed KSh9.53 billion (US$95 million), from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to refurbish turbines 1, 2 and 3 at Olkaria I. The works includes increasing the combined capacity of the three turbines from 45MW to 50.7MW. The rehabilitation and upgrade works are expected to last until 2021. This will increase capacity at this power station from 185 megawatts (248,000 hp) to 190.7 megawatts (255,700 hp).^[10]

In December 2018, Kenya Electricity Generating Company broke ground for the construction of Unit 6 of Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station, with capacity of 83 megawatts. Completion of this unit was expected in 2021, bringing total capacity at this geothermal station to 268.3 megawatts (359,800 hp).^[11] Unit 6 of Olkaria I, was commercially commissioned in July 2022.^[1]

Ownership

Olkaria I Power Station is owned by KenGen, a Nairobi Stock Exchange - listed company, in which the government of Kenya maintains 70 percent shareholding, the remaining 30 percent being held by institutional and private investors.^[2][12]

See also

• List of power stations in Kenya
• Geothermal power in Kenya
• Olkaria II Geothermal Power Station
• Olkaria III Geothermal Power Station
• Olkaria IV Geothermal Power Station
• Olkaria V Geothermal Power Station

1. ^ ^{a b} Jean Marie Takouleu (18 July 2022). "Kenya: Unit 6 of the Olkaria I geothermal power plant is operational". Afrik21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Sonal Patel (12 January 2015). "Olkaria Geothermal Expansion Project, Rift Valley Province, Kenya". Power Magazine. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
3. ^ Google (18 July 2022). "Travel Distance Between Naivasha Town, Nakuru County, Kenya and Olkaria, Nakuru County, Kenya" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
4. ^ Google (18 July 2022). "Travel Distance Between Nairobi Central, Nairobi County, Kenya and Olkaria, Nakuru County, Kenya" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
5. ^ David Herbling (27 December 2011). "KenGen starts new round of steam wells' drilling". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
6. ^ The EastAfrican (13 December 2014). "Geothermal plant adds 280MW to Kenya grid". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
7. ^ Renewable Energy World (10 January 2017). "KenGen Plans Olkaria V Geothermal Project". Renewable Energy World. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
8. ^ KenGen (2017). "Profile of Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station". Nairobi: Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen). Retrieved 26 September 2017.
9. ^ Administrator (19 February 2015). "President Paul Kagame Inaugurates Olkaria I Units 4 & 5". Nairobi: Geosteam Kenya. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
10. ^ Otuki, Neville (16 March 2018). "Japan pumps Sh9.53bn into Kenya's oldest geothermal plant". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
11. ^ Sam Kiplagat (3 December 2018). "KenGen set to break ground for geothermal plant today". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
12. ^ Juma, Victor (23 February 2017). "KenGen sells five per cent stake to South Africans for Sh2.3 billion". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 26 September 2017.