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Olkaria II

Geothermal power plant in Nakuru, Kenya. Approximate location -0.8644, 36.2985.

GeothermalNakuruKenya

Olkaria II is a 105 MW geothermal power station in Nakuru, Kenya. It is operated by Kenya Electric Generating Company. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 197,100 homes (estimated). It ranks #11 of 23 Kenya power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1982, it is around 44 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, geothermal supplies about 45.9% of Kenya's electricity; the national grid averages 95 gCO₂/kWh (90.0% low-carbon) (2025).

105MW installed capacity
197,100homes powered (est.)
1982commissioned (~44 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061221.

Capacity vs largest geothermal plants in Kenya

Olkaria I: 185 MW185Olkaria IOlkaria I units 4 & 5: 140 MW140Olkaria I …Olkaria IV: 140 MW140Olkaria IVOlkaria III (Orpower 4): 139 MW139Olkaria II…Olkaria II: 105 MW105Olkaria IIOlkaria I: 45 MW45Olkaria I

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 geothermal plant taps underground heat to raise steam that drives a turbine. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 0.9°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

16.6°Cannual mean temp
525heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
2,018 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 18 °CFM: 18 °CMA: 18 °CAM: 16 °CMJ: 15 °CJJ: 15 °CJA: 15 °CAS: 16 °CSO: 17 °CON: 17 °CND: 17 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 79% 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: 21/100 — 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 #5 largest geothermal power plant of 6 in Kenya by capacity.

Kenya has 6 geothermal power plants in this dataset, together about 754 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -0.8644, 36.2985 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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