The Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station, also known as Olkaria I Geothermal Power Plant is a

geothermal power Geothermal power is electricity generation, electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation i ...

station 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 an installed capacity of .

Location

The facility is located in the

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 ...

along with its sister stations, Olkaria II and Olkaria III. This location lies in

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 ...

, in

Nakuru County Nakuru County is a county in Kenya. It is county number 32 out of the 47 Kenyan counties. Nakuru County is a host to Kenya's Fourth City – Nakuru City. On 1 December 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded a City Charter status to Nakuru, ran ...

, 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 , by road, southwest of

Naivasha Naivasha is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya, north west of Nairobi. From 1969, the population expanded by a factor of 17 times to over 355,383 at the 2019 census. It is situated on the shores of Lake Naivasha, from which it takes its name. The ...

, the nearest large town. Olkaria is 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 ...

Overview

Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station is one in a series of six geothermal power stations, clustered in the Olkaria area in Nakuru County. Four of the stations Olkaria I, Olkaria II, Olkaria III and Olkaria IV were operational, as of September 2017. As of 2020, the entire Olkaria complex had an installed capacity of 810.3 MW Olkaria V was synchronised to the grid in 2019. and Olkaria VI is planned for 2021.

History

The Olkaria I Power Station first started operation in 1981 running one

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

turbine with a generation capacity of 15MW. In 1982 and 1985, two more turbines identical to the first were commissioned at the facility, bringing the total generation capacity to 45MW. As of January 2015 unit 4 and 5 with a combined installed capacity of 140 Megawatts were inaugurated. This brings the total installed capacity of Olkaria I to 185 Megawatts. In March 2016, 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 ...

borrowed KSh9.53 billion (US$95 million), from the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

(JICA) to refurbish turbines 1, 2 and 3 at Olkaria I. The works includes increasing the combined capacity of the three turbines from 45MW to 50.7MW. The rehabilitation and upgrade works are expected to last until 2021. This will increase capacity at this power station from to . In December 2018, Kenya Electricity Generating Company broke ground for the construction of Unit 6 of Olkaria I Geothermal Power Station, with capacity of 83 megawatts. Completion of this unit was expected in 2021, bringing total capacity at this geothermal station to . Unit 6 of Olkaria I, was commercially commissioned in July 2022.

Ownership

Olkaria I Power Station is owned by KenGen, a

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 ...

- listed company, in which the

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

References

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External links