ETHIOPIA: KenGen Completes Drilling the Seventh Geothermal Well at the Aluto-Langano Geothermal field

Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) has completed drilling of the seventh geothermal well in Ethiopia further bolstering the company’s renewable energy footprint in the Horn of Africa.

This latest announcement is from the Aluto-Langano geothermal site where KenGen is implementing a drilling consultancy project for the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) company. The drilling of the seventh well was completed on schedule at a depth of 3,000 meters.

“This is the second 3,000 meters well we have drilled in Ethiopia so far, and I must commend our teams on the ground for successfully delivering to expectations despite the threats of COVID-19 and security situation in Ethiopia at the time of project implementation,” said KenGen Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano.

This milestone reaffirms the NSE-listed company’s expertise in geothermal development in Africa, having earlier drilled the deepest geothermal well in the Horn of Africa also at a depth of 3,000 meters as announced by KenGen on November 11, 2021.

Commenting on the project timelines, Miano said: “We have now embarked on drilling of the fifth geothermal well under the EEP project in Aluto-Langano and we expect to complete the work in a fortnight’s time.”

The Ethiopian and Djiboutian ventures are part of KenGen’s ambitious diversification strategy, in which the company is seeking to acquire new revenue streams by offering commercial drilling services, geothermal consulting and other related services across Africa.

In November last year, KenGen announced that it had started work to deliver three geothermal wells in Djibouti setting in motion a Ksh.0.7 billion contract.

Locally, KenGen continues to grow Kenya’s geothermal capacity and has now started drilling of additional geothermal wells in Eburru geothermal field located in Naivasha.

Kenya is Africa’s number one geothermal energy producer and among top 10 in the world with an installed capacity of 863MW with KenGen contributing about 713MW. The country has an estimated geothermal potential of 10,000MW spread along its part of the Rift Valley circuit.