Thika is a 88 MW oil power plant in Samburu, Kenya. It is operated by Thika Power Ltd. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 66k homes (estimated). It ranks #19 of 34 Kenya power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2012, it is around 14 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).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061223.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 88 MW, Thika is around the median oil plant in Kenya (83 MW). Oil-fired plants burn heavy fuel oil or diesel, usually as peaking or backup capacity on islands and grids without gas pipelines; high fuel cost keeps their utilisation low.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Thika Power Ltd.
This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen As) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 1.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #4 largest oil power plant of 10 in Kenya by capacity.
Kenya has 10 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 828 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 1.0605, 37.0508 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Thika is a 88 MW source-record oil power plant in Samburu, Kenya, commissioned in 2012.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 66,075 homes (estimated).
Thika is operated by Thika Power Ltd.
