Michael Njuguna
17 August 2008
Nairobi — The Government plans to spend about Sh5 billion to drill geothermal power wells in Menengai Crater.
The Nation learnt Sunday that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study financed by power generator KenGen was commissioned early this year.
The EIA document says that project's major inputs will include capital of $72 million (about Sh4.8 billion) for drilling of exploratory, appraisal and production wells. The venture is funded by the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Energy.
Currently, geothermal energy contributes about 20 per cent of energy to the national grid. The wells are projected to meet the increasing demand for electricity in Kenya by providing an indigenous, reliable, and environmentally friendly benign source of energy.
The geothermal resource area estimated to cover 48 square kilometres is centered at the Menengai caldera floor. The geothermal energy potential of the prospect area is estimated to be about 740 Megawatts. The area is about 29 by 30 square kilometers and extends from the immediate north of Nakuru town in the south to Kisanana in the north.
To harness the geothermal energy resource, KenGen proposes to drill and test three exploration, six appraisal and about 27 production geothermal wells within the caldera floor.
The main objective is to prove availability of geothermal steam for construction of a 140 MW Menengai geothermal power plant to be commissioned in 2013, an equivalent of 15 per cent of the total installed capacity within the country.
According to the assessment report, all the expected environmental impacts arising from the implementation of Menengai geothermal drilling project can be mitigated.
But while industrialists wait for the new power station with much anticipation, conservationists are up in arms suggesting that the crater be conserved as a tourist destination.
Up in arms
A Nakuru ecologist Jackson Raini said that the crater had unique fauna and flora that ought to be protected.
"Although the national interest to generate more power overrides all other concerns, it is important to appreciate that part of the caldera is protected as a gazzetted forest, and the crater has several socio-economic, ecological, cultural and religious attributes," he said.
Menengai Crater lies to the north of the world-famous Lake Nakuru and forms the northern divide of the lake's catchment basin.
Mr Raini said that the Nakuru Strategic Structure Plan (an action plan for sustainable development of Nakuru town and its environs), states that the Menengai crater was up to the 1970s an important destination for tourists but has now fallen into disuse owing to neglect and inaccessibility.
According to him, Menengai possesses easily exploitable potentials for the development of environment friendly recreational facilities.
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Wow!!! I am so proud of Kenya's energy sustainability road map. It's amazing how a country with limited resources has taken giant steps surpassing the so-called "global North". Wait till you see how much fossil fuel the country uses, and the declining reliance on oil. This country is also investing big time in wind power. A proposed nearly USD 1 billion and feasibility studies already done. Solar power is becoming big as well and plans underway to invest in it. As a developing country, the reliance on biomass (wood and charcoal) is inevitably still a major source… [Read Full Text]