Haberler

Icelandic consortium wins international tender by KenGen for study in Kenya

Olkaria III geothermal plant, Kenya (source: emerging africa fund)
Alexander Richter 30 Ağu 2011

Winning an international tender, Icelandic firms Vatnaskil, Verkís, Mannvit and ISOR have signed an agreement with KenGen for a capacity assessment and feasibility study of the Olkaria geothermal fields.

An Icelandic consortium of firms including Vatnaskil, Verkís, Mannvit and ISOR have signed an agreement with Kenya Electricity (KenGen) for a capacity assessment and feasibility study of the Olkaria geothermal fields. The agreement is the conclusion of an international tender”, about three weeks ago.

“The Olkaria geothermal field is located in Kenya’s Rift Valley, which is northwest of Nairobi and south of Lake Naivasha. Utilization of the area began more than three decades ago and included consultation from Icelandic scientists and engineers. Currently there are three power plants producing a total of 200 MWe. Plans for two 140 MW power plants are underway and KenGen anticipates that the harnessing capacity of the area is approximately 1000 MWe.

Mr. Sigurdur Arnalds, Manager of Energy at Mannvit commented, “We were active participants during the first development of the Olkaria geothermal fields some three decades ago, so we are pleased to be back to continue the geothermal exploration and harnessing of this large resource for power production. We are also excited about the country’s ambitious plan for harnessing geothermal energy at several locations in the next decade.”
Responsibilities of the four consulting firms are as follows: Vatnaskil and ISOR will be developing a model to simulate the behavior of the geothermal reservoir to predict the future capacity of the area. Mannvit and Verkís will be conducting technical and economic assessments of the current power plants as well as for future power plants and prepare an environmental report. The project’s local partner in Kenya is the consulting firm Armstrong and Duncan. The project has commenced and estimated time for completion is one year.”

Source: Press Release