The government will next year competitively select power producers that will build electricity generating plants at the Baringo-Silali geothermal fields, wich are then expected to start electricity production by 2028.
This is as Kenya eyes increased electricity production from geothermal to reduce reliance on hydro power that is prone to weather shocks s as well as displace costly thermal power plants.
The Baringo-Silali fields, which are outside the traditional geothermal fields of Olkaria, offer an opportunity to increase geothermal's installed capacity. The fields have capacity to produce an estimated 3,000 megawatts making them an appealing alternative for the country that now needs to balance between availing power to the grid and making it affordable.
While geothermal resources in Kenya are estimated to have a potential to produce 10,000MW, the country has exploited about 950MW to date. Of this, about 800MW is generated at power plants built by Kengen while the balance is by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) Orpower that produces 150MW at its plants at Olkaria and the recently launched 35MW plant by Sosian Energy at Menengai.
