Kenya is the first African country to drill geothermal power, tapping vast steam energy.
Although expensive to drill initially, development of cheaper geothermal power means the country has to rely less on thermal power, prone to the vagaries of high international prices, and rain-fed hydroelectric dams.
The east African country has the potential to generate 7,000MW of geothermal power, and KenGen, the country’s main power producer, is targeting production of at least 5,000MW by 2030.
KenGen’s managing director Eddy Njoroge told Reuters that his company was open to different financing models to raise the financing required.
"We have the steam, we want somebody to come and build the plant and then operate it (to recover the cost) and then transfer it to us," said Njoroge.
