Drilling underway at Korosi geothermal prospect, Kenya
Steamfield equipment at Paka geothermal site, Kenya (Source: GDC website)
Carlo Cariaga
21 Oct 2021
GDC has announced the start of drilling of the third test well in the Korosi geothermal site while the two previous wells are heating up in preparation for discharge tests.
Kenya-based Geothermal Development Company (GDC) has announced via their official blog that the drilling for the third test well (KW-03) for the proposed geothermal site in Korosi has already started. The first and second of the three wells, Korosi Well 01 (KW-01) and Korosi Well 02 (KW-02) respectively, have been completed and are heating up in readiness for a discharge test.
We had previously reported on the drilling of KW-02. Korosi, along with Paka and Silali, comprise the Baringo-Silali Geothermal Project that has a huge geothermal potential of up to 3000 MW.
Mr Stephen Kangogo, Principal Engineer of Drilling Operations, is optimistic of the project’s imminent success and expressed confidence that drilling of KW-03 will yield positive results.
“Judging from our experience drilling at Paka prospect, we are confident that here at Korosi, we are going to successfully discover the resource from our exploration drilling. The rock formation of this bloc is more or less the same as Paka and so is the permeability. All these indicators point to a repeat of our successes as witnessed in the just concluded Paka field,” Kangogo explained.
The exploration drilling in Korosi and Paka marks a great milestone for GDC and the Country. First, it opens a new frontier for further industry development. Secondly, it marks a major step towards establishing geothermal as the main source of energy for the grid, and thirdly, it ushers in a new era of affordable and environmentally-friendly baseload energy for Kenyans.
Mr. John Lagat, the Regional Manager, North Rift, says the Baringo-Silali prospect is being developed wholly by GDC’s internal expertise. “Currently we are averaging $ 3.5 Million per well. This is below the global average of between $ 5 Million and $ 7 Million,” said Mr. Lagat.
Additionally, the Korosi geothermal prospect provides GDC with a new impetus in resource mobilization as it fits well into the African Union Commission’s (AUC) Geothermal Risk Mitigation Fund (GRMF) incentive. This is part of AUC’s quest to establish geothermal energy as a strategic option for power generation capacity expansion, as it pushes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions towards environmental sustainability.
“Geothermal energy is baseload electricity with the highest reliability as compared to other renewables such as hydro, solar, and wind. It presents the cheapest source of electricity alternative at approximately 8.8 US cents per Kilowatt hour when put against solar or wind that costs in the Country 11-12 US cents per kilowatt-hour,” said Mr. Joseph Mutahi, Chief Officer, Corporate Planning and Strategy.
With this, GDC is in line to benefit from GRMF funding through its development of the Korosi prospect and the larger Baringo-Silali bloc. It is a new geothermal field, which elevates the GDC status locally and regionally as a leading company in supporting the production of cost-effective green energy to support industrial growth in Kenya and to help deal with the current global challenge of greenhouse gases.
Source: Geothermal Development Company
