Nairobi — The proposal to establish a geothermal power station in the Menengai Crater in Nakuru is being challenged by environmental conservationists who want the crater to be preserved as a tourist attraction.

Nakuru industrialists, on the other hand, argue that the generation of geothermal power will go a long way in helping meet the country's power needs.

Business owners say they have lost expensive equipment as a result of power surges while others have had to buy generators to sustain production when power cuts occur.

They say that the diesel power generators have made production more costly and uneconomical.

Textile manufacturers in Nakuru town say they are losing out to competitors in Egypt and South Africa where electricity tariffs are low and they can afford to price their products low.

Mr M.S. Shah of Londra Textiles said that there was no likelihood of the textile industry recovering, despite government efforts to address the industry's issues, unless electricity tariffs were lowered.

Other manufacturers say they are unable to meet export delivery schedules when power is rationed during the dry season.

Mr J. Bedi of Bedi Investments told the Sunday Nation that the rising cost of electricity and fuel was impacting negatively on production. His firm, which previously paid an electricity bill of Sh2 million per month, now pays Sh3.1 million.

Mr Bedi said the high cost of production was likely to force investors to relocate to other countries where electricity tariffs were low.

Already, many manufacturing industries said they have reduced staff numbers to stay afloat.

Lying idle

"The establishment of another geothermal power station will go a long way in alleviating the electricity shortage this country has been having over the years.

"The Menengai Crater has been lying idle since independence. Let KenGen expedite the power generation," said a Nakuru industrialist.

He added that since the Ol Karia Power Station and the Hell's Gate National Park have a symbiotic relationship, there is no reason for conservationists to think a geothermal power generation plant in the Menengai Crater would be harmful.

KenGen runs Africa's biggest geothermal power station at Ol Karia in Naivasha where it has many geothermal wells.

A former chairperson of the Nakuru Business Association, Mr Peter Kinya, said that several European countries had well-developed geothermal power generation stations that did not compromise the quality of the environment, arguing that the geothermal station would occupy only a small portion of the 90-square kilometre crater.

Hydro-geologist Mwangi Gichuki said he could not dismiss the many benefits that the country stood to gain by establishing a second geothermal station.

"We need cheap power but KenGen must also ensure that the communities living in the neighbourhood of the crater are not exposed to poisonous chemicals such as sulphuric acid which forms when emissions such as hydrogen sulphide mix with water," he said.

He said that the wells which could be a kilometre deep were also likely to affect the hydrology of the area, considering that a number of boreholes are also being sank at Ol Bonita in the neighbourhood of the crater.

Minimal research

"It is a catch-22 situation. We need electricity and at the same time we must ensure that the health of the communities in the neighbourhood is not compromised," Mr Gichuki said. The Menengai Crater geothermal station is expected to produce about 140MW.

But ecologist Jackson Raini says that only minimal research had been conducted into geothermal resource utilisation and depletion impacts on biodiversity in Menengai Crater.

Mr Raini said evidence shows that geothermal utilisation can cause surface disturbances, negative physical effects due to fluid withdrawal noises, thermal effects and emission of chemicals as well as affect neighbouring communities socially and economically.

According to him, an Environmental Impact Assessment report compiled by the National Environmental Management Authority says that only existing vegetation cover in the designated generation plant area will be removed during site clearance and excavation in preparation for construction.

"The assessment report does not take into account the likely adverse impacts of pollution from the chemicals on the biodiversity and local population," Mr Raini said.

The ecologist says that plants will be affected by gases and chemicals, and cites a case in Turkey where the impact of geothermal power plants caused acute damage on oak trees.

"Instead of making decisions involving complex projects like the Menengai geothermal drilling project on the basis of data-poor and knowledge-poor situations, substantial investment in scientific capacity, reliable data and a sophisticated environment management culture is needed.

"We need to carry out surveying and mapping of the plant types, birds, insects, reptiles, mammals," he said.

Impact negatively

The scientist also said that hot geothermal waste water and potential pollutants such as chloride, lead, oil and grease would impact negatively on the area's biodiversity, agriculture and human welfare.

He added that the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere would change the crater's micro-climate and contribute to global warming.

While Mr Raini's argument is expected to receive support from environmental conservationists, KenGen's new project is likely to appeal to both domestic and industrial power consumers as electricity bills have more than doubled in the last few months.

The Menengai Crater has not been developed as a tourist destination and one cannot drive on the 10 km earth road from Nakuru town to the crater during the rainy season.