Explainer — How Kenya’s Menengai geothermal project supplies power

Saturday 7th November 2026

By inAfrika Newsroom

At Kenya’s Menengai geothermal project, one company supplies the steam and others turn it into electricity. The state-owned Geothermal Development Company, or GDC, develops the steam field in Nakuru County. Independent power producers build, own and operate the generating plants.

Developing the steam field means surveying the underground resource, drilling production wells and collecting steam through pipes. At the generating plants, the steam drives turbines connected to generators. Under a project implementation and steam supply agreement, GDC commits to supplying steam to each producer.

The steam agreement and the agreement to buy electricity cover different parts of the chain. The 35-megawatt Menengai plant developed by Globeleq, for example, has a 25-year steam agreement with GDC and a separate 25-year power purchase agreement with Kenya Power, the national electricity distributor, according to Globeleq.

Each of the three plants in Menengai’s first phase has a planned capacity of 35 megawatts, for a combined 105 megawatts. Kenya’s Public Private Partnerships Directorate lists the Sosian plant as operating. GDC says OrPower Twenty Two’s plant was synchronised with the grid in March 2026. The directorate lists the Quantum project developed by Globeleq as under construction.

The contracts separate the risks of steam delivery and power sales. In its 2025 project account, GDC said a partial risk guarantee developed with the African Development Bank covered a failure by GDC to deliver steam or by Kenya Power to pay for electricity. The African Development Bank said its board approved a $12.7 million guarantee through the African Development Fund for the three plants.

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