Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC abbreviated to KenGen, is a government enterprise in the

Republic of Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. K ...

charged with the production of electricity for the country. KenGen is the largest electric power producer in Kenya, generating over 60% of the electricity consumed in the country.

Overview

KenGen relies on various sources to generate electricity, ranging from

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

, geothermal, thermal and wind, with hydropower being the leading source of electricity. The company owns 30 hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 825.69 MW, four

thermal power plants A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

generating 256 MW, seven geothermal power plants with a generating capacity of 713.13 MW and one Wind power plant at Ngong producing 26 MW, for a combined generating capacity of 1,817.82 MW. Presently KenGen operates five major geothermal power plants with 12 installed units, namely: Olkaria I, Olkaria II, Olkaria I unit 4 and 5, Olkaria IV, Olkaria V. 16 wellhead plants with 21 installed units. The Olkaria geothermal power stations are located in

Nakuru Nakuru (nicknamed Nax) is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and it is the fourth largest city in Kenya and the largest in the Rift Valley region. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban population of 570, ...

County within the Hell's Gate National Park bordering

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''ɛnaɨpɔ́sha '', meaning ...

within the Great Rift Valley.

History

The company was founded on 1 February 1954 as the Kenya Power Company (KPC) and was commissioned to construct the transmission line between

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

and

Tororo Tororo is a town in the Eastern Region, Uganda, Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Tororo District. History Tororo was garrisoned by the Uganda Army (1971–1980), Uganda Army's Air an ...

in Uganda. This was to transmit power generated at the Owen Falls Dam to Kenya. KPC was also tasked to develop electricity generating facilities in the country. KPC was managed by the

Kenya Power and Lighting Company Kenya Power and Lighting Company, commonly referred to as Kenya Power or shortened KPLC, is a public liability company which transmits, distributes and retails electricity to customers throughout Kenya. Location KPLC headquarters are at Stima ...

under a management contract. In January 1997, the management of KPC was formally separated from Kenya Power as a direct result of reforms being undertaken in the energy sector and the entire economy. Subsequently, on 19 January 1998 the company changed its name from Kenya Power Company to Kenya Electricity Generating Company. The trading name KenGen PLC was also adopted at this point. In 2006, KenGen was listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange after the Government of Kenya sold 30 percent of its stake in the company through a successful

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

that received over 280,000 applications.

Ownership

KenGen currently has 6,594,522,339 shares. The

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

of Kenya Electricity Generating Company is listed on the NSE, where it trades under the symbol: KEGN

List of power stations and installed capacity

Current capacity

The current capacity of KenGen's power stations are;

Hydroelectric

* Gitaru Hydro Power Plant – 225 MW *Gogo Hydro Power Plant – 2 MW, on the Gucha River * Kamburu Hydro Power Plant – 93 * Kiambere Hydro Power Plant – 169 MW * Kindaruma Hydroelectric Power Station – 72 MW * Masinga Hydroelectric Power Station – 40 MW *Mesco Hydro Power Plant – 0.43 MW *Sagana Hydro Power Plant – 1.5 MW * Sondu Miriu Hydroelectric Power Station – 60 MW *Sosiani Hydro Power Plant – 0.4 MW * Tana Hydroelectric Power Station – 20 MW *

Turkwel Hydro Power Plant The Turkwel Hydroelectric Power Station, also Turkwel Dam, is an arch dam on the Turkwel River about north of Lorokon in West Pokot County, Kenya. The dam serves several purposes, including hydroelectric power production, irrigation, tourism and ...

– 106 MW * Wanjii Hydroelectric Power Station – 7.4 MW

Geothermal

* Olkaria I Geothermal Power Plant - 45 MW * Olkaria II Geothermal Power Plant - 105 MW * Olkaria I AU Geothermal Power Station - 140 MW * Olkaria V Geothermal Plant- 172MW *Eburru Geothermal Power Plant – 2.44 MW * Wellhead Geothermal Power Plant (Olkaria)- 5.0 MW * Wellhead Generation – 81 MW

Thermal

*Kipevu I Diesel – 60 MW *Kipevu III Diesel – 115 MW *Muhoroni Gas Turbine - 55 MW

Wind

* Ngong Hills Wind Power Station: Phase I – 5.1 MW * Ngong Hills Wind Power Station: Phase II – 20.4 MW

Future projects

KenGen plans to increase it installed capacity to 721 megawatts by 2025.

Geothermal

* Olkaria I Unit 6 – 70 MW – Completion Year: 2022 * Eburru Project – 25 MW – Completion Year: 2016 * Olkaria VI – 140 MW – Completion Year: 2016/17 * Olkaria VII – 140 MW – Completion Year: 2018 * Olkaria VIII – 140 MW – Completion Year: 2018

Wind

* Wind Power Station: Phase II – 300 MW – Completion Year: 2020 * Marsabit Wind Power Plant – 200 MW – Will Begin Construction In 2026

Lists

* Electricity by country **

List of countries by electricity production This is a list of countries and dependencies by annual electricity production. China is the world's largest electricity producing country, followed by the United States and India. Data are for the year 2023 and are sourced from Ember unless o ...

List of countries by electricity consumption This is a list of countries by electric energy consumption. China is the largest producer and consumer of electricity, representing 55% of consumption in Asia and 31% of the world in 2023. Consumption by country Data in this table are from E ...

References

External links

{{authority control Electric power companies of Kenya Government-owned companies of Kenya Energy companies established in 1954 Renewable resource companies established in 1954 1954 establishments in Kenya Companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange