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GDC has so far developed 544MW of steam out of which 320MW\nhas been added to the national grid by KenGen. The geothermal firm has other\ncontracts in Menengai fields in Nakuru to sell steam to three independent power\nproducers (IPPs) \u2013 Mauritian firm Quantum Power, American firm Ormat\nTechnologies and Kenyan firm Sosian Energy \u2013 owned by Steel\nand cement tycoon Narendra Raval. The three power plants will have a total\ninstalled capacity of 105MW, each 35MW upon construction. Groundwork is still\nbeing laid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenya sees geothermal as an attractive low-cost renewable energy\nsource with low emissions and serves as a stable, reliable base-load\nelectricity. It has helped quicken Kenya\u2019s march towards renewables, with the\ncountry\u2019s generation mix currently at 93 percent, nearly half from geothermal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GDC\nboasts the largest steam well in Africa, Well 1A (30.6MW) in Menengai, Nakuru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wonder well has in the past given the\nagency the bragging rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nstandard well on average yields only five 5MW, meaning GDC wonder well is\nequivalent to six wells. Drilling a single well costs an average $5 million\n(Sh500 million). Some wells turn out dry, returning losses to investors in\nterms of sunk costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GDC has seven operational rigs and also earns part of its\nrevenues from consultancy and training services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its geothermal centre of\nexcellence targets specialists from east Africa looking to enter the geothermal\nlabour pool, including geologists, geophysicists, geochemists as well as\nreservoir and drilling engineers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The targeted nations are those located along\nthe Rift Valley belt \u2013 Kenya, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic\nof Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and\nZambia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur centre of excellence offers comprehensive short course\nprograms in geothermal energy development. The trainings are carried out by GDC\nexperts and are continually evaluated in line with industry requirements,\u201d the\ncompany says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe geothermal centre of excellence seeks to bridge the skill\ngap in geothermal development in countries found along the East African Rift\nSystem (EARS).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GDC also operates a geochemistry lab in\nMenengai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe lab is well equipped to carry out a range of services including; thin sectioning and petrographic analysis, petrochemistry using a modern X-ray fluorescence machine and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The data provide insights into the nature of the geothermal resources,\u201d reads the company\u2019s update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n