The Olkaria Geothermal Field is located in the East African Rift valley, about 120 km north-west of Nairobi, The KenGen´s license area covers 204 km2. When the study was initiated, KenGen had two power plants in operation, Olkaria I and II, with a total capacity 150 MW and two power plants, totaling 280 MW, were under construction. The work was to study the possibilities to develop the KenGen´s concession area beyond the already constructed and planned 430 MW power plants.
The main tasks were:
Determination of the size, availability and quality of the geothermal resources.
Recommendation of the optimum utilization of the field.
Recommendation of locations, sizes and separation pressure of the future power plants.
Feasibility study for power plants in harmony with the optimized capacity of the geothermal field. That includes:
– Evaluation of existing power plants and recommended modifications.
– Recommendations for location, size and types of new power plants.
Training of KenGen´s employees
Evaluation of the environmental impact of the geothermal utilization.
The main outcome of the study was that total capacity of the geothermal field was evaluated 930 MW, i.e. 500 MW in addition to the already constructed and planed power plants. Five new plants and extension of one existing plant were recommended.
Verkís managed the project and provided expert input on all aspects related to feasibility study of the power plants and steam field.
