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Kamburu

Hydro power plant in Embu, Kenya. Approximate location -0.8093, 37.6867.

HydroEmbuKenya

Kamburu is a 94 MW hydro power plant in Embu, Kenya. It is operated by Kenya Electric Generating Company. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 94,307 homes (estimated). It ranks #12 of 23 Kenya power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 20.9% of Kenya's electricity; the national grid averages 95 gCO₂/kWh (90.0% low-carbon) (2025).

94MW installed capacity
94,307homes powered (est.)
1974commissioned (~52 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1000040.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Kenya

Gitaru: 225 MW225GitaruKiambere: 168 MW168KiambereTurkwel: 106 MW106TurkwelKamburu: 94 MW94KamburuKindaruma: 72 MW72KindarumaSondu Miru: 60 MW60Sondu MiruMasinga: 40 MW40MasingaTana: 20 MW20Tana

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Kenya Electric Generating Company. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 0.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

21.8°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,385cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,040 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 22 °CJF: 23 °CFM: 23 °CMA: 23 °CAM: 22 °CMJ: 21 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 23 °CON: 22 °CND: 22 °CD23 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #4 largest hydro power plant of 8 in Kenya by capacity.

Kenya has 8 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 785 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -0.8093, 37.6867 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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