Drilling works at the Gale Le Koma Geothermal Site in Djibouti has kicked off. Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), the leading electric power generating company in Kenya began works on the first three geothermal wells.
The company was awarded the project by the Office Djiboutien De Development De l’energie Geothermique (Djiboutian Office of Geothermal Energy Development, ODDEG) a US$ 6.2M contract to carry out the works.
While making the announcement, KenGen Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano said that this is “a historic moment for us and we are confident that our team on-site will deliver the project within the contracted time and on budget despite the prevailing circumstances brought about by COVID-19 and security situation in the neighboring republic of Ethiopia.”
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Geothermal development
She also explained that the company had assigned a highly specialized multiskilled team that comprised of mechanical and drilling engineers, project managers, drillers, cementing technicians, and specialized welders among other key professionals in the geothermal development value chain to the Gale Le Koma Geothermal project.
The drilling of the said well is expected to take about two months to complete. Abdirasak Omar Moumin, ODDEG Project Manager exuded confidence that the KenGen would deliver the Gale Le Koma Geothermal Project as planned, adding that the Djiboutian team was looking forward to acquiring new knowledge from the Kenyan company.
“We are happy with KenGen and we are also learning a lot from the team on the ground. They have a long history and expertise in geothermal, which makes them the best partners in implementing our geothermal dream,” said Mr. Moumin.
