Kenya Taps the Earth’s Heat
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Kenya Taps the Earth’s Heat
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Authors: WILL BROWN
- Published: December 1, 2022
Overview
- Article: "Kenya Taps the Earth’s Heat" by WILL BROWN, F&D Magazine, December 2022.
- Theme: Kenya’s geothermal industry and its potential to power much of the country; mix of technical advantages, economic opportunities, social impacts, and environmental concerns.
Geothermal capacity and technology
- Kenya is the world’s seventh top producer of geothermal energy.
- Exploited geothermal capacity to date: close to 950 MW.
- Current estimated households powered: about 3,800,000 homes.
- Government estimate of untapped geothermal resource: 10,000 MW.
- Geothermal resource distribution: spread across two dozen sites in the Rift Valley region.
- Typical global drilling depth for geothermal wells: about 3,000 to 4,000 meters.
- Typical well depths in Kenya (Hell’s Gate area): some wells are only 900 meters deep.
- Drilling cost in the area around Hell’s Gate: roughly K Sh 600 million ($5 million) per well.
- Average potential per well in the area: 5 megawatt (MW).
- Wells required for a 140 MW power plant: about 20 to 30 wells.
Renewable-energy share and projects
- On a good day, about 95 percent of the national grid’s power comes from renewable sources (engineers’ claim).
- Geothermal contribution: anywhere from a third to half of the renewable share on a good day (engineers’ estimate).
- Noted projects and milestones:
- Kenya already has the largest solar project in the region.
- Kenya has the largest wind project on the continent.
- Engineers say they are developing the largest geothermal plant on earth, Olkaria VI, in Hell’s Gate.
Economic and development implications
- Population: the country has 53 million people (contextual).
- IMF resident representative Tobias Rasmussen: “A developing country having close to 90 percent of renewable energy power generation is quite unique.”
- President William Ruto’s pledge: keep developing geothermal capacity and move to 100 percent clean energy by 2030.
- Potential enough to power Kenya’s current peak demand five times (government estimate).
- Developmental benefits cited:
- Geothermal has no emissions, helping access to cheap climate finance.
- Increased electrification and clean cooking alternatives can reduce deforestation and charcoal burning.
- Positive health and livelihood impacts, especially for women (as noted by Henry Paul Batchi Baldeh, African Development Bank).
Regional and technical spillovers
- Kenya exports technology and know-how across the region:
- Technical support for drilling provided in Ethiopia and Djibouti.
- Surface studies and technical support provided to Rwanda and Comoros (Kenyan role described by Peketsa Mangi).
Social and environmental challenges
- Allegations from indigenous populations and rights groups of abuses and land grabs related to renewable projects.
- Specific local grievances near Hell’s Gate:
- Claims that officials and geothermal companies exploited illiteracy, isolation, and lack of colonial-era land documents.
- Quoted local: "The geothermal companies took the ignorance of the communities here and used it.”
- Reported displacement and disputed resettlement outcomes: KenGen reports building houses and providing jobs for resettled people; locals contest employment and benefit claims.
- Local activism claim: qualified locals (geologists, engineers, new graduates) not employed; jobs go to outsiders.
- Environmental concerns raised by academics and conservationists about damage to natural environment and wildlife around Hell’s Gate.
Policy implications and recommendations (implied by content)
- Continue investment in geothermal development to realize up to 10,000 MW of resource potential.
- Ensure equitable inclusion of local communities in employment, resettlement, and benefits from projects to address allegations of land grabs and social harm.
- Strengthen transparency and documentation in land acquisition and resettlement processes to reduce disputes tied to colonial-era land documentation gaps.
- Leverage geothermal’s low-emission profile to access climate finance that supports national development objectives.
- Support regional technical cooperation and capacity-building to scale geothermal development across East Africa while sharing best practices for community engagement and environmental protection.
Source: "Kenya Taps the Earth’s Heat" — F&D Magazine, WILL BROWN, December 2022. Canonical URL: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2022/12/country-case-kenya-taps-the-earth-heat
Content in this bundle
- Kenya Taps the Earth's Heat