Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) which is the leading electric power generation company in Kenya has successfully drilled three new geothermal wells in Olkaria.
The wells which are located in one pad have a total capacity of producing 33MW of electric energy and this will help boost the electricity production in the country.
“The multi-well pad drilling approach reduces drilling costs. We drilled two directional wells and one straight well and when we tested the wells, their output is up to 33 MW,” said Geothermal Development director Eng. Abel Rotich.
This finding has come with a lot of benefits as it is able to produce a huge amount of megawatts compared to the other wells that were discovered. It is also among the biggest in Kenya and it increases their chances of meeting their vision 2030 goal of becoming a huge industrialized economy.
“It is not every day that we strike 33MW from a single pad. The normal average capacity from one well is 5MW. This means that we needed up to 6 wells to attain similar capacity. We have literally saved half of the drilling costs for 30MW with this single pad,” added Eng. Rotich.
KenGen produces about 80 percent of electricity consumed in the country. The company utilises various sources to generate electricity ranging from hydro, geothermal, thermal and wind. Hydro is the leading source, with an installed capacity of 766.88MW, which is 64.9 per cent of the company’s installed capacity.
3,000 megawatts is yet to be added by KenGen to its power generation fleet by 2018 and most of it is anticipated to come from renewable sources like geothermal and wind.
