President William Ruto has urged investors to take full advantage of Kenya’s geothermal opportunities.
Speaking during the ground-breaking ceremony for the 35 Mega Watts Orpower 22 Power Plant in Menengai, Nakuru County, Ruto said that Kenya has only utilized less than 10 per cent of its capacity in production of geothermal power.
Kenya has a capacity of 10,000MW.
“So far we have tapped only 950Mega Watts, a small fraction of our geothermal potential of nearly 10,000 Mega Watts leaving immense opportunities still untapped.
“I want to encourage other investors that there is still immense opportunity in the geothermal resources of Kenya. We have just touched less than 10 per cent. We have a whole 90 per cent to go and the government of Kenya is ready and willing and prepared to work with the Private Sector to unlock this potential,” Ruto said.
The president urged the investors to move with speed in making the decision to explore these opportunities.
He went on to say that while Kenya has barely utilized 10 per cent of 10,000MW in geothermal power it still ranks sixth largest geothermal power producer in the world.
“We call on the private sector to take full advantage of this and move more decisively and with the necessary speed. Although we are yet to utilize our full Geothermal energy potential.
“Investors like Orpower Twenty-Two exemplify the value of government-private sector collaboration in attracting foreign direct investment and creating employment opportunities for our citizens.”
He noted that once complete the Menengai plant will generate affordable power at Sh8 per kWh, significantly lower than the available cost of fossil fuel alternatives.
Ruto insisted that with ever rising fuel prices and many threats to climate change, renewable energy stands out as efficient and sustainable.
“Given the continually rising fossil fuel prices and the intensifying threat of climate change, investing in renewable energy is efficient, prudent, and sustainable. This is precisely what we are doing with geothermal energy.”