The state-owned Geothermal Development Company (GDC) announced on 15 January that it expects Quantum Power East Africa Ltd to begin construction in March of the first of three 35MW independent power producer (IPP) projects worth a combined $210m at the Menengai geothermal complex.
GDC said that Quantum Power’s project would be followed by Sosian Menengai Geothermal Power Ltd, reported in the Kenyan press to have been part-owned until recently by Gideon Moi, son of the former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi.
The third IPP is being developed by Orpower Twenty Two Ltd, which is majority owned by Ormat Technologies – which also owns the 139MW Olkaria III plant – alongside the United States’ Symbion Power, and Kenya’s Civicon, which is majority owned by TransCentury.
GDC managing director and chief executive Johnson Ole Nchoe said; “Both IPPs have already received their letters of support and we trust that we will have banks on board to provide letters of credit. In addition, our steam gathering system is 90% complete and by March all should be done”.
The projects have faced lengthy delays since key agreements were signed in November 2014. A difference of opinion between lenders and GDC over the scale of the steam resource initially held back development while further problems were caused by revisions to the government’s letter of support in the wake of the collapse of the Kinangop wind power project.
However, both Quantum Power and Sosian received acceptable letters of support from the government in October 2017, along with several other long-delayed IPPs such as the Kipeto wind project. The new leadership that arrived at GDC in 2016 following a major corruption scandal is also understood to have played a significant role in moving the projects forwards.
