Geothermal Development Company
GDC
Agency overview
Formed2008
JurisdictionKenya
HeadquartersKawi House, South C Bellevue, Popo Lane, Off Red Cross Road, Nairobi
Agency executives
  • Hon. Walter Nyambati, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
  • Mr. Paul Ngugi, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.
Parent departmentMinistry of Energy
Websitewww.gdc.co.ke

The Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is a wholly owned parastatal of the Government of Kenya. It is mandated to execute surface geothermal development, including prospecting for, drilling, harnessing and selling geothermal energy to electricity-generating companies for energy production and sale to the national grid.[1]

Location

The headquarters of GDC are located in the capital city of Nairobi, at Kawi House, in the neighborhood known as South C.

Overview

The country was heavily dependent on hydroelectric energy from the time of independence until the early 2000s. Due to unpredictable rainfall patterns, the levels of the country's rivers fell and Kenya underwent a marked reduction in electricity output in the 2003 - 2006 time frame.[1] In an attempt to reduce the over-reliance on hydroelectric energy and its susceptibility to weather changes, GDC was formed in 2008 as a Special Purpose Vehicle to carry out rapid geothermal exploration and drilling in the country to enable the Kenya Electricity Generating Company and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to build power stations and not only diversify the national electricity grid,[1] but also to fulfil a pledge to install 5,000 MW of electricity in the country by the year 2030.

Outside development partners have offered help.[2] GDC has plans to develop academic courses in geothermal energy at Kenyan universities, starting with courses at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology.[3]

Recent developments

In 2023, a new CEO was appointed to head the organisation.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Omenda, Peter (2012). "Geothermal Development in Kenya: A Country Update - 2012" (PDF). Geothermal-energy.org. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  2. ↑ EFIK (11 April 2011). "France and Kenya sign agreement for geothermal development in Kenya". Nairobi: Embassy of France in Kenya (EFIK). Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Waruru, Maina (14 November 2014). "Africa Opens Its First Geothermal Energy Research Center for Workforce Development". Renewableenergyworld.com. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  4. ↑ April 26 2023, Wednesday (2020-09-20). "GDC appoints Paul Ngugi as Chief Executive". Business Daily. Retrieved 2022-05-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.