Menengai geothermal project, Kenya – update

16th June 2023 By: Sheila Barradas - Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

Menengai geothermal project, Kenya – update

Name of the Project
Menengai geothermal project.

Location
Nakuru County, Kenya.

Project Owner/s
Private power company Globeleq.

Project Description
Menengai is a 35 MW greenfield geothermal project and part of the first phase of the wider Menengai complex, which is the second large-scale geothermal field being developed in Kenya, after Olkaria.

The project will be supplied with steam from the Kenya government-owned Geothermal Development Company (GDC) under a 25-year project implementation and steam supply agreement. 

Once operational, electricity will be sold to State-owned power company Kenya Power under a power purchase agreement over the same period.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
$108-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction of the project is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023, once financial close has been concluded. Globeleq will operate and maintain the power plant once it has reached commercial operations in 2025.

Latest Developments
A ground-breaking ceremony, to commemorate the start of construction of the  Menengai geothermal project, was held on June 8. 

Globeleq expects the Menengai project to reach financial close within the next two to three weeks, subject to the remaining conditions precedent being fulfilled by government. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Toyota Tsusho Corporation (engineering, procurement and construction contractor); and Fuji Electric (manufacture and supply of the steam turbine and generator).

Contact Details for Project Information
Globeleq project enquiries: Director, business development – head of East Africa, Edouard Wenseleers, email Edouard.wenseleers@globeleq.com.