Kenya overtakes Italy to rank among top seven geothermal power producers globally

Kenya has gone up the rankings and is now the seventh-biggest producer of geothermal power globally, new data has revealed.

In doing so, the country has overtaken Italy, which is the land of birth of geothermal technology.

According to the latest statistics prepared by Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), Kenya’s geothermal capacity currently stands at 823 megawatts (MW), having grown by 165MW over the past one year. This moves the country above Italy’s 800MW.

Kenya has gone up the rankings and is now the seventh-biggest producer of geothermal power globally, new data has revealed.

Kenya’s geothermal stock has expanded four times over the past decade, growing from 198MW in 2010.

On its part, Italy has managed a measly 9.8 percent growth over the same period. Its capacity stood at 728MW in 2010 compared to the current 800MW.

Geothermal is a low-cost renewable source of energy that has low emissions. It serves as reliable base-load electricity.

Kenya’s remarkably-accelerated geothermal production has put the country on the verge of joining the prestigious Gigawatt Club of countries with geothermal production of 1,000MW (1GW) and above.

The club currently has just four members namely: the US (2,555MW), Indonesia (2,131MW), the Philippines (1,928MW) and Turkey’s (1,515MW).

Kenya was in 2019 ranked ninth in geothermal production globally but resolutely accounted for the third-largest geothermal capacity worldwide the same year to move past Iceland, and now Italy, to rank among the top seven geothermal powerhouses.

As a result, geothermal today accounts for about a third of the country’s total installed power capacity of 2,700MW, hydropower, wind, solar and thermal power accounting for the rest.

Geothermal energy has its roots in Italy where it was first developed over 100 years ago. Kenya constructed its first geothermal plant, the Olkaria 1, in 1981. Many other geothermal plants have since been built across the Rift Valley.

Apart from Kenya, Ethiopia is the only other African nation that has developed geothermal energy (7MW).

1 - 3 December 2020

KICC, Kenya