Kenya: Kengen Signs Contract for Olkaria IV Drilling

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 19, 2006
Posted to the web December 19, 2006

John Oyuke
Nairobi

Great Wall Drilling Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, has clinched a deal to drill geothermal wells for KenGen.

The firm's work early next year will begin the construction of a new 70 megawatt power plant, Olkaria IV, in Naivasha. Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has already signed the Sh1.6 billion contract with Great Wall, paving the way for the project to begin.

KenGen Managing Director, Mr Eddy Njoroge said the drilling would take approximately ten months. Mr Zhang Zhaofeng, Senior Engineer with Great Wall signed the contract on behalf of the Chinese company.

Njoroge said the project would entail drilling six directional wells to complement three exploration wells that were drilled eight years ago.

He said the drilling would accelerate geothermal development, which is expected to reduce dependence on hydropower generation.

The Government has identified geothermal power generation as the cheapest option for the next 20 years. Research shows there is potential of more than 2,000 MW of geothermal energy in the Rift Valley.

Kenya has an effective capacity of 130 MW making it the leading geothermal power producing country in Africa.

China quietly takes over the world.....