Baringo–Silali: Kenya’s next geothermal frontier moves towards development

Last Updated 1 hour ago by Kenya Engineer

For more than a decade, Kenya’s geothermal story has been dominated by Olkaria. That is beginning to change. In the volcanic landscape around Lake Baringo, the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is developing a resource that could become one of the country’s largest new sources of firm renewable electricity.

The Baringo–Silali geothermal block, comprising the Paka, Korosi and Silali prospects, has an estimated potential of about 3,000MW. GDC’s first development phase targets 300MW — 100MW each from Paka, Korosi and Silali.

But the 3,000MW figure should not be mistaken for available generating capacity. The project is still in the resource-development stage, where drilling and testing are being used to establish how much electricity the underground reservoirs can sustainably support.

That makes Baringo–Silali less a single power-station project than the development of a new geothermal energy province.

From exploration to resource development

Surface studies in the Baringo–Silali area began in 2010, identifying geothermal manifestations including fumaroles and altered ground. GDC subsequently developed access roads, water infrastructure and drilling pads before moving into exploratory drilling.

Paka became the first major focus. Drilling began there in 2018 before the programme expanded to Korosi. GDC now reports 11 successfully drilled exploration and appraisal wells at Paka, with the 12th and 13th wells under drilling. At Korosi, three exploration wells have been drilled, four wells have completed testing after their heating periods, while others remain in the heating and monitoring stage.

The sequence illustrates the particular nature of geothermal development.

Finding a hot underground resource is only the first step. Developers must establish temperature, pressure, permeability, fluid chemistry and the sustainable production rate of the reservoir before committing to a commercial power plant.

Every successful well reduces some of that uncertainty.

Paka is the first major development target

Paka remains the most advanced of the three prospects.

GDC’s development strategy envisages a 100MW plant at Paka as the first major generating project within the block. The company’s strategic planning identifies a conventional flash-steam cycle as the proposed technology for Paka, subject to the detailed development of the resource.

The difference between a geothermal well and a geothermal power plant is important.

A productive well provides access to the underground resource. A commercial plant requires a sufficiently large and sustainable group of production wells, a steam-gathering system, separators and associated surface equipment, turbines, generators, cooling systems and electrical infrastructure.

The field therefore has to be developed as an integrated system.

The wells are the real resource

A geothermal production well is effectively an energy-production system drilled several kilometres into the earth.

Engineers must design the well to withstand high temperatures and pressures while maintaining the integrity of the casing and cement over a potentially decades-long operating life.

Once drilling is completed, the well is not immediately treated as a conventional production asset. It has to heat up, stabilise and undergo discharge testing to determine how it behaves under production conditions.

That is why GDC’s current status report distinguishes between wells that have been successfully tested and those still heating up at Korosi. The eventual generating capacity will depend on the combined sustainable output of the wells.

Silali adds another piece of the resource puzzle

The Silali prospect has also moved closer to commercial development.

GDC announced in 2025 that drilling at Silali had encountered viable steam, with the successful well estimated at about 22MW of steam discharge. The result provided further evidence that the third major prospect in the block could support commercial geothermal development.

A high-output well is important because drilling is one of the most capital-intensive and technically risky parts of geothermal development. However, the output of one well cannot be translated into equivalent installed plant capacity.

Long-term reservoir behaviour, pressure decline, interference between wells and sustainable steam production still have to be established.

Silali’s result is therefore best understood as another reduction in resource risk rather than as 22MW already available to the grid.

Building the infrastructure around the resource

The geothermal resource sits in a relatively remote part of the country, making supporting infrastructure almost as important as the wells themselves.

Under the project financing arrangement, the Government of Kenya is funding access roads and well pads, while KfW’s €80 million loan supports the water-supply system, drilling of 15–20 geothermal wells and project-related consultancy services.

GDC has also developed an extensive water network to support drilling and other operations. Its 2025 project material reported 146 kilometres of water pipelines associated with Baringo–Silali.

The infrastructure is fundamental to the drilling programme.

Large rigs, casing, cement, drilling fluids and other equipment have to reach individual well pads. Water has to be available in sufficient quantities. Roads have to carry heavy loads across terrain that was not originally designed for industrial traffic.

The access and water systems are part of the geothermal project itself.

Steam gathering will connect the wells to the plant

Once productive wells are established, the next engineering challenge is collecting the geothermal fluid and delivering the usable steam to the power plant.

The steam field will require wellhead equipment, pipelines, separators, valves, pressure-control systems and associated drainage and reinjection infrastructure.

The layout depends on the location and output of the production wells.

This makes field development a balance between underground reservoir characteristics and above-ground engineering. Longer distances between wells and the plant, for example, affect pipeline sizing, pressure losses and construction costs.

The design must also account for the chemistry of geothermal fluids, which can cause scaling and corrosion in equipment if not properly managed.

Transmission will be part of the development

The power plants will need an equally substantial electrical system.

KETRACO’s North Rift transmission plans are particularly relevant because the proposed 400kV Lessos–Loosuk line is intended to provide an alternative evacuation route for renewable generation, including proposed geothermal power from the Baringo North Rift geothermal complex. The approximately 180km double-circuit line will connect new 400/220kV infrastructure at Lessos with a 400kV switch station at Loosuk.

This creates a direct engineering link between the geothermal fields and the national transmission network.

A power plant cannot operate at its intended output if sufficient evacuation capacity is unavailable. Conversely, transmission infrastructure needs generation projects to justify its investment.

The timing of the two systems therefore becomes critical. Baringo–Silali is consequently not just a drilling project. It is tied to the development of a wider North Rift energy corridor.

The 300MW target will come in stages

GDC’s first-phase target is 300MW:

• Paka — 100MW
• Korosi — 100MW
• Silali — 100MW

GDC’s strategic plan sets a long-term objective of developing at least 300MW from the block by 2030.

More recent national energy planning also places the first Paka stage within the medium-term generation pipeline, illustrating the transition from resource exploration towards power-plant development.

But each field will progress according to its own resource characteristics.

Paka is furthest along. Korosi remains in exploration and appraisal drilling. Silali has demonstrated a significant steam resource but still requires further development before a commercial plant can be brought online.

GDC’s role is to take the early risk

The structure of the project reflects the economics of geothermal energy.

GDC’s mandate is to undertake the early, high-risk stages of geothermal development — infrastructure, exploration, drilling and resource assessment — and reduce the risks faced by investors before power generation is developed. The company can subsequently facilitate private-sector participation and sell steam to power producers.

That model is significant for Baringo–Silali because the largest uncertainty is underground.

A developer can price a turbine and design a substation with reasonable confidence. It is much harder to price the output of a geothermal reservoir that has not yet been adequately drilled and tested.

By taking on the exploration and drilling risk, GDC can turn a geological prospect into a more defined energy resource.

The next step is to convert that resource into a bankable steam field and, ultimately, generating assets.

The project is also creating an industrial opportunity

Electricity is not necessarily the only useful product from Baringo–Silali.

GDC has been pursuing direct-use applications in which geothermal heat is used directly for industrial and agricultural processes rather than first being converted into electricity. In July 2026, GDC closed a tender seeking proposals for direct-use applications from geothermal brine at either Menengai or Baringo–Silali.

Potential applications include process heating, drying, agricultural production and other heat-intensive activities.

This could give the geothermal project an economic footprint beyond electricity generation, particularly if industries are developed close to the resource.

The engineering challenge will be integrating those applications with the steam field while maintaining efficient reservoir management.

The bigger significance is the North Rift grid

Baringo–Silali matters to Kenya’s electricity system for another reason: geothermal generation can provide firm power alongside the country’s growing variable renewable resources.

The North Rift already contains major renewable-energy assets, including the Lake Turkana wind project. KETRACO’s proposed Lessos–Loosuk transmission corridor is being developed partly to strengthen evacuation from that renewable-energy complex and to provide a route for proposed geothermal generation from the Baringo area.

The result could eventually be a more interconnected renewable-energy corridor rather than a series of isolated generation projects.

The real test is turning steam into electricity

After more than a decade of exploration and infrastructure development, Baringo–Silali is entering the more difficult phase of geothermal development.

The resource has to be proven through sustained drilling and testing. Production wells have to be developed. Steam-gathering systems have to be designed. Power plants have to be financed and constructed. Transmission capacity has to be available. Environmental and social obligations have to be maintained throughout construction and operation.

The project has already demonstrated that geothermal resources exist at Paka, Korosi and Silali. The next question is whether those resources can be developed economically and sustainably at the scale envisaged.

That is the engineering story now unfolding in Baringo.

The headline potential may be 3,000MW, but the immediate test is much more tangible: delivering the first 100MW from Paka, followed by the development of Korosi and Silali.

If that transition is achieved, Baringo–Silali will represent more than another geothermal plant. It will mark the emergence of a new geothermal production centre in Kenya — one built through deep drilling, reservoir engineering, steam-field development, high-voltage transmission and a new industrial energy corridor in the North Rift.