Electricity producer KenGen expects to cut the cost of drilling for geothermal steam by 41.67 per cent after acquiring three more rigs, raising hopes of a drop in power bills in coming years.
The new equipment, geothermal resources development manager Peketsa Mangi said, will save the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm millions of shillings it has been spending to hire rigs.
He said the cost of drilling wells is likely to fall to $3.5 million (Sh358.05 million) from $6 million (Sh613.80 million).
“We currently have 287 geothermal wells in Olkaria, and with the acquisition of the rigs we expect we will be doing at least five wells every year,” Mangi said in Naivasha.
Two of the rigs have the capacity to drill wells that are between five and seven kilometres deep.
