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Rabai

Oil power plant in Kwale, Kenya. Approximate location -3.9334, 39.5626.

OilKwaleKenya

Rabai is a 90 MW oil power plant in Kwale, Kenya. It is operated by Rabai Power Company. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 67,577 homes (estimated). It ranks #13 of 23 Kenya power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2009, it is around 17 years old — relatively modern. In context, oil supplies about 10.0% of Kenya's electricity; the national grid averages 95 gCO₂/kWh (90.0% low-carbon) (2025).

90MW installed capacity
67,577homes powered (est.)
2009commissioned (~17 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061214.

~177,390 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

41,350passenger cars driven for a year
23,134homes' yearly energy use
2,956,500tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 30% load factor × a typical oil emission factor (~750 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Capacity vs largest oil plants in Kenya

Kipevu III: 120 MW120Kipevu IIIIberafrica I & II (Nairobi south diesel PP): 109 MW109Iberafrica…Rabai: 90 MW90RabaiThika: 88 MW88ThikaKipevu II (Tsavo): 74 MW74Kipevu II …Kipevu I: 74 MW74Kipevu I

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

Owner

Operated by Rabai Power Company.

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen As) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 3.9°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

26.0°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,923cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
43 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 27 °CJF: 28 °CFM: 28 °CMA: 27 °CAM: 26 °CMJ: 25 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 24 °CAS: 25 °CSO: 26 °CON: 27 °CND: 27 °CD28 °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 #3 largest oil power plant of 6 in Kenya by capacity.

Kenya has 6 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 556 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -3.9334, 39.5626 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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