KenGen sets aside 300 hectares for green industrial park

KenGen Managing Director Peter Njenga. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has set aside more than 300 hectares of land in Olkaria, Naivasha, Nakuru county for a green energy park.

The industrial park, according to the electricity generating company will accommodate industrial and non-industrial activities with electricity supplied at subsidized rates.

This came as the power company welcomed the USD1B Microsoft-G42 Olkaria Data Centre Campus that is scheduled to be constructed next year.

During his visit to the US last week, President William Ruto and the AI and cloud computing company, committed to developing a renewable energy-powered cloud data center in Kenya.

KenGen Managing Director Peter Njenga, said they had identified 342 hectares in Olkaria for industrial and non-industrial activities.

Eng Njenga announced that investors at the park would get subsidised electricity from the geothermal power fields to boost production.

"The park development encompasses offices, data centers, research and development centers, hospitality spaces, a visitor experience center and commercial facilities," he said.

In a statement, the KenGen boss noted that various geothermal plants in Olkaria produce more than 800MW with the country boasting of over 980Mw from installed geothermal capacity.

"KenGen Green Energy Park has become a hallmark of Kenya's sustainable development and is a testament to our dedication to innovation, collaboration and responsible growth," he said.

At the same time, Njenga welcomed the Microsoft-G42 Olkaria Data Centre Campus saying that KenGen was ready to provide the needed green energy to power the project.

"The Microsoft and G42 green Data Centre Campus at our Green Energy Park will run on 100 per cent renewable geothermal power at the Olkaria Geothermal fields," he said.

He was optimistic that the project would redefine industrialisation in the region while providing a sustainable and clean source of geothermal energy for the industries.

Njenga noted that the new 'East Africa Cloud Region' based in Kenya would offer Microsoft Azure cloud services powered by G42's green data centres.

"This centre will provide scalable, secure, and high-speed cloud computing and AI capabilities to accelerate digital transformation across Kenya, East Africa and the continent," he said.

The KenGen boss said that as part of the ambitious project, G42 will build a sustainable Data Centre Campus powered entirely by geothermal energy from the Olkaria geothermal fields.

"This visionary project is set to redefine industrialisation in the region while providing a sustainable and clean source of geothermal energy," he said.