Kenya:

GDC to Take Up Drilling Wells at Geothermal Sites (Business Daily)

Blending with Nature by Abraham Sam Samuel.
Rig with rainbow in the background, Hells Gate
National Park, Olkaria, Kenya, March 19th, 2011

Investors in geothermal energy in Kenya will be spared much of the upstream costs of production after the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) extended its role to drilling.

GDC Managing Director Silas Simiyu said investors will henceforth only be required to raise capital for building power stations, in a change of tack aimed at reducing the cost of exploiting steam as a source of energy.

GDC will henceforth carry out service exploration and exploitation of steam resource as well as drilling, leaving public sector power generator KenGen to compete with private investors for licences to build power stations.

The change follows failure by licensed companies to drill and prove availability of steam as per contractual terms. Following the change, licences held by KenGen for wells with a potential of 280 MWe in Olkaria will run on a revenue-sharing basis.

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