A Nairobi based power firm, the Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited is soon expected to sign a contract for drilling three explorative geothermal wells in Tanzania.
As it happens, KenGen is a company which is 70 percent owned by the Government of Kenya.
According to the KenGen Managing Director, Peter Njenga who is also the company’s Chief Executive Officer, the firm intends to launch the Tanzanian Geothermal Project between March and April 2024.
KenGen’s move into Tanzania is aimed at cementing its revenue diversification through venturing into markets outside its country of origin.
“One of the things we are doing is aggressive diversification in looking at outward markets. We are in Ethiopia; we are in Djibouti. Malawi has visited us and they are interested in us helping them explore their geothermal,” Njenga pointed out.
“We also have Tanzania, Zambia and Rwanda,” he said, adding that Tanzania is now exploring its geothermal capacity and theirs is a small project which should be done within three months.
Kenya currently produces more than 800 megawatts of its electricity from geothermal sources, making it one of the world’s biggest producers of the energy.
At the moment Tanzania is considering turning to geothermal in addressing electricity problems, as the country suffers massive outages.
Already experts have started laying down grounds to harness its active volcano near Lake Natron, in Arusha.
The General Manager of Tanzania Geothermal Development Company Limited, Mathew Mwangomba revealed earlier that Tanzania has so far identified 52 sites in 16 regions that have ample potential to generate geothermal power.
“After years of surveys, initial development stages for the proposed Oldonyo Lengai Geothermal project, should be heating up from March 2024,” stated the TGDC Manager.
A total of 16 regions in Tanzania have been found to have ample Geothermal potential and once the project sails Tanzania will be able to produce some estimated at 5,000 megawatts electric (MWe), from the ground with initial plans intending to start with 200 MWe by 2025.
Tanzania with over 15,000 megawatts steaming underground and yet to be tapped, accounts for nearly 10 percent of the total geothermal potential found across the African Continent.
Kenya, the country’s Northern neighbor, already yields over 1000 megawatts of electricity from the country’s geothermal power plants.
The country’s Olkaria IV Power Plant is one of the world’s largest single turbine geothermal power plants, churning out 140-MegaWatts.
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