Name of the Project
Menengai geothermal project.

Location
Nakuru County, Kenya.

Project Owner/s
Private power company Globeleq.

Project Description
Menengai is a 35 MW greenfield geothermal project and part of the first phase of the wider Menengai complex, which is the second large-scale geothermal field being developed in Kenya, after Olkaria.

The project will be supplied with steam from the Kenya government-owned Geothermal Development Company (GDC) under a 25-year project implementation and steam supply agreement. 

Once operational, the Menengai project will deliver clean and affordable baseload power to the national grid supply and significantly contribute to the Kenyan government’s goal of a clean energy mix by 2030. Electricity will be sold to State-owned power company Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) under a power purchase agreement (PPA) over the same period.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
$108-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction of the project is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023, once financial close has been concluded. Globeleq will operate and maintain the power plant once it has reached commercial operations in 2025.

Latest Developments
The African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) and Globeleq have finalised the agreement for the provision of a payment guarantee to the Menengai project. The payment guarantee, issued through ATIDI’s regional liquidity support facility, covers the risk of nonpayment by the GDC and KPLC under the project implementation and steam supply agreement, and the PPA respectively.

The collaboration between ATIDI and Globeleq was first announced during the 2024 Africa Energy Forum, in Barcelona. With this agreement now executed and effective, the project and its lenders – the African Development Bank, the Eastern and Southern African Development Bank, and the Finish Fund for Industrial Cooperation – benefit from enhanced payment security ahead of the project’s scheduled commercial operations date. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Toyota Tsusho Corporation (engineering, procurement and construction contractor); and Fuji Electric (manufacture and supply of the steam turbine and generator).

Contact Details for Project Information
Globeleq project enquiries: Director, business development – head of East Africa, Edouard Wenseleers, tel +254 205 038 375 or email info@globeleq.com.