ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News

Attractive opportunity of industrial park next to Olkaria geothermal plants, Kenya

Olkaria II geothermal power plant, Kenya (source: ARGeo)

Closeness to geothermal power plants provides cheaper electricity prices to companies to settle in special industrial zone set up at Olkaria, Kenya.

Geothermal power generated at the Olkaria geothermal fields in Naivasha, Kenya provides low electricity prices that have now forced a competitor to KenGen to lower its tariffs to industrial customers.

With the set-up of the special economic zone in Olkaria, there is now more local electricity demand with lower transmission cost. The KenGen Green Energy Industrial Park, which has four zones offers direct connection to cheaper geothermal electricity and a connection to the harbour of Mombasa via railway.

The 309 acre industrial zone is set up to invite export only textile and apparels plants.

“Under the lease, the manufacturing/processing firms (locators) will be supplied with utilities such as geothermal steam and brine (hot water) as well as raw water,” said the electricity producer. Factories around the SEZ will also be served by the just-completed Naivasha-Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), easing connectivity, as reported by Kenyan tribune.

This example shows the great opportunities to set up industrial parks next to geothermal plants, that could not only profit from lower-priced electricity, but also electricity from clean energy source. At the same time, the possibility to tap into heat provided by the plants, creates a multitude of other industrial development opportunities.

Source: Kenya Tribune

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