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KenGen restarts Olkaria I geothermal plant at higher capacity

KenGen restarts Olkaria I geothermal plant at higher capacity

Built World

Africa's oldest geothermal station has been rebuilt to 63 MW from 45 and is running tests before formal commissioning

October 31st, 2026: EPRA approves 25-year PPA for Olkaria I

Overview

Updated Nov 3

KenGen has finished rebuilding all three units at Olkaria I, Africa's oldest geothermal plant, lifting output to 63 megawatts from 45. Managing director Peter Njenga says the station is running reliability tests and should be formally commissioned before the end of 2026.

Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority approved a 25-year power purchase agreement for the plant in October. The Sh15.6 billion job added 18 MW without new wells, by redesigning the steam pipeline and replacing condensers, cooling towers and pumps.

Why it matters

Kenya added 18 MW of steady geothermal power without drilling new wells, capacity that helps balance a grid fed increasingly by weather-dependent wind and solar.

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Key Indicators

63 MW
Olkaria I installed capacity after rehabilitation
Up from 45 MW before the plant was taken offline in 2023.
40.7%
Capacity increase
The gain KenGen and its contractor report from the same primary steam flow.
Sh15.6bn
Rehabilitation cost
Figure reported by ECONEWS, roughly $120 million at the exchange rate Newsbase used.
25 years
Length of the approved power purchase agreement
EPRA cleared the PPA after KenGen applied in February 2026.
2,549 MW
Kenya's peak electricity demand in 2026
Up from 2,149 MW in 2023, when Olkaria I was taken out of service.
~40%
Geothermal share of Kenya's electricity
According to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
1,681 MW
Geothermal capacity target for 2030
Goal set in the Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030.

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People Involved

ZY
Zhang Yang
Deputy project manager, SEPCOIII
Completed the Olkaria I rehabilitation
MA
Maurice Awuor
Electrical engineering manager, KenGen
In post
PK
Perry Karuri
Quality assurance and control engineer, Olkaria I project
Worked on construction inspections
 Peter Njenga
Peter Njenga
Managing director and chief executive, KenGen
In post
EK
Edward Kinyua
Director general, Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority
In post

Organizations Involved

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen)
Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen)
State-owned power producer
Owner and operator of Olkaria I

Kenya's main electricity generator and the owner of the Olkaria geothermal complex in the Rift Valley.
SEPCOIII
SEPCOIII
Engineering, procurement and construction contractor
Completed Olkaria I upgrade

Chinese contractor, a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China, hired to rebuild the Olkaria I units.
TE
Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions
Equipment supplier
Named supplier of turbines and generators at contract award

Named by KenGen in March 2024 as the supplier of steam turbines and generators for the three Olkaria I units.
STEAM Srl
STEAM Srl
Engineering consultancy
Owner's engineer on the project

Consultancy that represented KenGen's engineering interests during the Olkaria I rehabilitation; project material names it as Steam Srl.
Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority
Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority
Government Regulatory Agency
Approved a 25-year PPA for Olkaria I

Kenya's electricity and petroleum regulator, which approves power purchase agreements and publishes generation statistics.

Timeline

1981 October 2026

7 events Latest: October 31st, 2026 · 1 week ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. EPRA approves 25-year PPA for Olkaria I

    Latest Regulatory

    The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority cleared the agreement after KenGen applied in February. Director general Edward Kinyua said the plant was doing reliability tests and would go online the following month.

  2. KenGen announces full 63 MW capacity

    Completion

    The company reports the rehabilitation finished, up from 45 MW, at its annual general meeting.

  3. Unit 2 restored; project 92% complete

    Milestone

    A KenGen financial report puts remaining work at less than a tenth of the project.

  4. Unit 3 reconnected to the grid

    Milestone

    The first rehabilitated unit returns to service and runs stably.

  5. KenGen announces contract award

    Contract

    SEPCOIII named EPC contractor, Toshiba named turbine and generator supplier, completion set for December 2026.

  6. Rehabilitation work begins

    Construction

    SEPCOIII starts rebuilding the three units after KenGen takes the plant offline.

  7. Olkaria I's first unit enters service

    Origins

    The plant becomes Africa's first geothermal power station. KenGen dates the plant's commissioning to 1980.

Scenarios

1

Olkaria I holds at 63 MW and anchors the Rift Valley fleet

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: KenGen engineering staff and the project's own completion reporting

If the rebuilt units run at their new rating, Olkaria I becomes the reference case for further brownfield work in the same field. Its value is steadiness: geothermal output does not move with the weather, which is why KenGen frames it as grid-balancing capacity rather than a bulk addition. Watch the plant's availability figures rather than its nameplate rating.

2

KenGen commissions a second geothermal rehabilitation

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: KenGen's framing of Olkaria I as the first completed geothermal rehab in three years

A working rehabilitation model, a contractor already on site, and ageing units elsewhere in the Olkaria field make a repeat project plausible. The trigger would be a new engineering, procurement and construction award naming another Olkaria station.

3

The uprate falls short once the plant runs continuously

Unlikely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Independent engineering literature on brownfield geothermal uprates

A 40% gain from the same steam flow depends on redesigned surface equipment, including gas extraction and condenser performance, behaving under sustained load. A preprints.org engineering study of the same project argues the gains hinge on replacing steam-jet ejectors with motor-driven vacuum pumps. If the equipment underperforms, output could settle below the announced rating.

4

Olkaria I reaches commercial operation before the end of 2026

Likely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: KenGen managing director Peter Njenga and EPRA director general Edward Kinyua

Njenga said the plant would be formally commissioned before the end of the year, and Kinyua said it would go online the month after the PPA was approved. The test is whether the three rebuilt units hold their new rating once they run continuously rather than in short trials.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1981

Olkaria I commissioning (1981)

Kenya built its first geothermal power station in the Rift Valley's Olkaria field, with the first unit entering service in 1981. It was the first geothermal plant in Africa, and it turned a volcanic field into a domestic power source for a country with no oil of its own.

Then

The plant supplied base-load power and proved that geothermal drilling in the Rift Valley could be developed at utility scale.

Now

Geothermal grew to supply roughly 40% of Kenya's electricity, per the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and Olkaria became the country's main generating complex.

Why this matters now

The upgraded plant inherits a 45-year-old site and adds 18 MW to a fleet whose founding unit is now the thing being rebuilt.

2023

Olkaria I shutdown for rehabilitation (2023)

KenGen took the ageing plant offline to replace equipment whose original components had become hard to source. The work was originally contracted with completion set for December 2026.

Then

Kenya lost 45 MW of steady generation while the plant sat idle, with output from wind and solar unable to fill the gap on calm or cloudy hours.

Now

The completed upgrade returned 63 MW and, per KenGen, extends the plant's operating life by more than 25 years.

Why this matters now

It shows what a rehabilitation costs in lost output, and why the three-year gap matters for a grid that leans on geothermal for stability.

Sources

(9)
+3
ThinkGeoEnergy KenGen Ficanews (Xinhua) Energy Global Preprints.org Business Quest ECONEWS Xinhua ThinkGeoEnergy