Kenyan utility KenGen is planning to build 14 temporary geothermal plants with a total capacity of 65MW by 2014.
The scheme follows the completion of the piloting of a 5MW portable station in late 2011.
Each of the portable plants is expected to take about six months to complete. KenGen managing director Eddy Njoroge said that portable plants will allow early generation, unlike conventional plants that take nearly ten years to implement.
“In this way, we are able to meet current supply-demand needs as we invest to safeguard future supply,” Mr Njoroge is quoted to have said.
Kenya is Africa’s flagship producer of geothermal electricity. It has the potential to produce 7,000MW and currently it targets production of at least 5,000MW by 2030.
Geothermal Development Company (GDC) said it will sell steam to KenGen, which plans to use wellhead generators to convert steam into power. GDC plans to drill at least 300 other wells between 2012 to 2016, which would be later handed over to independent power producers.
