- Orpower 22, a New York-based power firm and the special purpose company for Symbion Power LLC has secured Sh11.97 billion ($97 million) to drill a 35 megawatt (MW) geothermal well in Menengai.
- 80 per cent of Kenya’s electricity is from clean sources mainly geothermal and wind.
Orpower 22, a New York-based power firm and the special purpose company for Symbion Power LLC has secured Sh11.97 billion ($97 million) to drill a 35 megawatt (MW) geothermal well in Menengai Crater, boosting Kenya’s efforts to fully transition to a clean energy and lowering the cost of electricity over a 25-year power purchase deal with the government. Symbion Power did not disclose when the drilling will start for the project that upon completion will significantly boost Kenya’s efforts of a 100 per cent transition to clean energy in a bid to provide cheap electricity besides protecting the environment from the pollution of the thermal power plants.
Kenya has been grappling with high power bills mainly because of the fuel cost charge. The charge significantly rises when fuel prices go up and when the amount of oil consumed by the generators increases. Increased use of electricity from fuel generators hits consumers with high power bills due to the high cost of fuel, underscoring why cutting reliance on thermal plants is key to lowering the cost of electricity.
President William Ruto in November disclosed the ambitious target at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt that an estimated 80 per cent of Kenya’s electricity is from clean sources mainly geothermal and wind and has set the ambitious target of a 100 per cent transition to clean energy by 2028.