The Olkaria III Geothermal Power Station, is a large geothermal power plant in Kenya, having an installed electricity generating capacity of 150 MW.

Location

The facility is located adjacent to Hell's Gate National Park, along with its sister stations, Olkaria I, Olkaria II, and Olkaria IV. This location lies in the Olkaria area, in Nakuru County, on the eastern edge of the Eastern Rift Valley, approximately 38.2 km, by road, southwest of Naivasha, the nearest large town. Olkaria lies approximately 126 km, by road, northwest of Nairobi. The geographical coordinates of Olkaria III Geothermal Power Station are 0°53'27.0"S, 36°17'21.0"E (Latitude:-0.890833; Longitude:36.289167).

History

The Olkaria III Power Station first started operation in 2000, running one Ormat power plant with a generation capacity of 13 MW. In January 2009 new infrastructure was installed, adding another 35 MW to the plant's capacity. Later, 36 MW production capacity was installed. The third generation unit at Olkaria III, with capacity of 26 MW was commissioned in 2014, bringing total capacity at the plant to 110 MW. The fourth generation unit, with capacity of 26 MW was commissioned in 2016, bringing total capacity at the plant to 139 MW. In 2018 another 11 megawatts of capacity was added increasing generation capacity to 150 MW.

Ownership

Olkaria III Power Station is owned and operated by Ormat Technologies Inc., a Reno, Nevada registered company, with production facilities in Yavne, Israel. Oromat Technologies owns the power station through its 100 percent subsidiary "OrPower 4 Inc". According to Kenyan print media, Ormat Technologies Inc. sold 503 gigawatt hours (GWh) to Kenya Power and Lighting Company, earning KES:3.89 billion (US$45 million), in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013.