The Olkaria II Geothermal Power Station also known as Olkaria II Geothermal Power Plant is a

geothermal Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to: * Geothermal energy, useful energy generated and stored in the Earth * Geothermal activity, the range of natural phenomena at or near the surface, associated with release of the Earth's internal he ...

power plant in

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. ...

, with installed electric generating capacity of

Location

The facility is located in the

Olkaria The Olkaria Area is a region located immediately to the south of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Africa. It is geothermally active and is being used to generate clean electric power. The region has an estimated potential of 2,00 ...

area, adjacent to

Hell's Gate National Park Hell's Gate National Park is a national park situated near Lake Naivasha in Kenya. The park is named after a narrow break in the cliffs, once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley. It was established in 1984 ...

, on the eastern edge of the

Eastern Rift Valley The Gregory Rift (''Ufa la Gregori'', in Swahili) is the eastern branch of the East African Rift fracture system. The rift is being caused by the separation of the Somali Plate from the Nubian Plate, driven by a thermal plume. Although the ter ...

, approximately , southeast of the city of

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, ...

, where the county headquarters re located. Olkaria lies approximately , by road, northwest of

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 ...

. The coordinates of Olkaria are:0°51'49.0"S, 36°18'00.0"E (Latitude:-0.8636; Longitude:36.3000).

History

Olkaria II went on-stream in 2003 when

Kenya Electricity Generating Company Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC abbreviated to KenGen, is a government enterprise in the Republic of Kenya charged with the production of electricity for the country. KenGen is the largest electric power producer in Kenya, generating ...

(KenGen) commissioned two 35 MW units manufactured and installed by

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...

(MHI). In 2010, a third unit of 35 MW capacity was installed, at a cost of approximately US$100 million, bringing the total capacity to 105 Megawatts. The expansion was financed by (a) the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

, which lent US$40.8 million (KSh303 billion), the

International Development Association The International Development Association (IDA) () is a development finance institution which offers concessional loans and grant (money), grants to the world's poorest developing country, developing countries. The IDA is a member of the World ...

, which lent US$27.6 million (KSh2.2 billion), the

French Development Agency The French Development Agency (, AFD), known from 1992 to 1998 as the Caisse Française de Développement (CFD, ), is a public financial institution that implements France's development and international solidarity policies. It works to fight pov ...

, which lent US$20 million (KSh1.6 billion) and KenGen, which contributed the balance. The Olkaria II power plant is one of six geothermal stations either planned or already operational in the Olkaria area in Nakuru County.

Ownership

Olkaria II Power Station is owned by KenGen, a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

, whose stock is traded on the

Nairobi Stock Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

, and in which the

government of Kenya The Government of the Republic of Kenya (GoK) is the Central government, national government of the Kenya, Republic of Kenya located in East Africa. It is composed of Counties of Kenya, 47 Counties, each county with its own semi-autonomous gove ...

maintains 70 percent shareholding, the remaining 30 percent being held by private individual and institutional investors.

References

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External links

Website of Kenya Electricity Generating Company
2010 establishments in Kenya Energy infrastructure completed in 2010 Geothermal power stations in Kenya

Location

History

Ownership

See also

References

External links