Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), the leading electric power generating company in Kenya and the entire East Africa region has announced that it has started drilling the first of the three geothermal wells at the Gale Le Koma Geothermal Site in Djibouti.
This comes approximately 9 months after KenGen was awarded by the Office Djiboutien De Development De l’energie Geothermique (Djiboutian Office of Geothermal Energy Development, ODDEG) a US$ 6.2M contract to carry out the works.
The drilling of the said well is expected to take about two months to complete.
A historic moment for KenGen
While making the announcement, KenGen Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano said that this is “a historic moment for us and we are confident that our team on-site will deliver the project within the contracted time and on budget despite the prevailing circumstances brought about by COVID-19 and security situation in the neighboring republic of Ethiopia.”
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She also explained that the company had assigned a highly specialized multiskilled team that comprised of mechanical and drilling engineers, project managers, drillers, cementing technicians, and specialized welders among other key professionals in the geothermal development value chain to the Gale Le Koma Geothermal project.
Confidence that Gale Le Koma Geothermal Project will be delivered on time
Abdirasak Omar Moumin, ODDEG Project Manager exuded confidence that the KenGen would deliver the Gale Le Koma Geothermal Project as planned, adding that the Djiboutian team was looking forward to acquiring new knowledge from the Kenyan company.
“We are happy with KenGen and we are also learning a lot from the team on the ground. They have a long history and expertise in geothermal, which makes them the best partners in implementing our geothermal dream,” said Mr. Moumin.
