SCS students visit Olkaria IV Power Station (KenGen)

The trip to Olkaria IV Geothermal Power plant provided School of Computing Sciences students with an opportunity to engage and learn from a practical perspective on technology and automation. Situated at the Hells Gate National Park about 26 Kilometers from Naivasha Town, the power plant consists four main power plants (Olkaria I, II, III, and IV) with the Olkaria IV being the latest power plant with the highest power generation of up 140 Megawatts and consists of two separate generators power thorough common geothermal steam energy source. Olkaria IV is the most recently constructed plant and was officially commissioned by His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta Friday, 17th October 2014.

All of which operate under KenGen whose mandate is to oversee electricity power generation and supplying the power to other brokers. Olkaria IV (units 1 and 2) each generates 70 megawatts which is then supplied to KPLC, which in turn distribute to the relevant consumers. The 140 Megawatts generated by Olkaria IV translated to about 10% of the total power supply generated country wide from all sources (e.g. hydro and wind power), and is proudly the single largest geothermal project in Africa. The successful generation of electricity is made possible by the presence of 28 geothermal wells approximately near the plant geothermal power plants.

The tour involved

* The power plant factory layout.
*  Mining of the pressurized geothermal steam energy.
*  Piping of the steam to the plant.
*  Cleaning of the steam and removal of moisture.
*  Pressurized steam driving the turbines.
*  Turbines coupling to the two main generators rated 70 Mega Watts of power each.
*  The two main Generators power outputs to the main grid that ultimately supply the Kenya Power Lighting Company.
*  Accessing the main control room, which is highly automated with state of the art control systems and computer systems.
* Students had a chance to interact, socialize and ask educative questions to Engineers and other staffs who man the power plant.
*  The trip culminated with a tour through Hells Gate National Reserve, where the students had a chance to experience the game park wild.
*  A tour to the unforgettable Geothermal SPA, located near Olkaria II.

Below are some photos of the tour.

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