Friday, October 2, 2015

Kenya: The Menengai Geothermal Energy Special Economic Zone

Raw geothermal steam can power plants at cheaper cost (The Star)

The government’s plan to create a special economic zone in Nakuru’s Menengai area is slowly taking shape with the launch of a project that uses direct heat from a steam well to power its operations.

The project includes a milk processing plant, a laundry, horticultural greenhouse and an aquatic fish pond which will be powered by heat tapped and channeled through pipes from the 30 MW steam well.

Energy Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge says the government is betting on the lower operational costs and the expected industrial accumulation to attract investments in the greenfield energy — the use of natural gas to run operations.

The increase in the steam technology is set to place Kenya in the same league as USA, New Zealand and Iceland countries that have diversified the use of geothermal energy away from traditional electricity generation for industrial growth.

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