04 January 2014, Lagos — The steam field development of the geothermal power plant in Ol Karia is complete.
Funded by the World Bank, the project was undertaken by a Chinese company Sinopec.
The steam field development done by Sinopec International begun work at Ol Karia in Naivasha in April 2012 and entailed installation of a pipeline system to collect steam from various wells, steam separators as well as steam field control system.
The total piping system installation is 40 kilometres and includes various pipe sizes of up to 42 inches radius.
“The work of steam field development is complete, pipes have been laid and also fixed to the power station,” said the Senior Communications Officer for Kengen, Kaara Wainaina.
The project had been predicted to take up to 20 months but has taken a slightly lesser time than that.
The laying of the pipes and the entire steam field development was the last major milestone in construction of the 280 MW geothermal project that will pump a further 25 percent of current capacity to the national grid and this is expected to happen mid this year.
Wainaina expressed optimism on the adherence of this schedule saying everything was working according to plan.
The Ol Karia geothermal power plant puts the power generator on a green energy path, with geothermal expected to provide half of electricity needs of the country by 2018. (CajNewsAfrica)
