Determinants of Successful Implementation of Geothermal Projects in Kenya: A Survey of Menengai and Olkaria

. Geothermal energy has been accelerated by the Kenya government as a strategic objective towards addressing the serious constraints in energy supply and cost in the country. Despite the vast geothermal resources Kenya is endowed with, estimated to be in excess of 7000 MW, only a small fraction, approximately 8 %, has been exploited leaving a huge portion still untapped. This study thus sought to investigate the critical factors that significantly affect implementation of geothermal development projects in Kenya by the key implementing agencies, GDC and KenGen. The research employed a multiple case study design where stratified random sampling technique was used. Data was collected using survey questionnaires and key informant interviews. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 17) was used to run descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages so as to present the quantitative data based on the research objectives. Qualitative data generated from open ended questions was categorized in themes in accordance with the research objectives and reported in narrative form along with quantitative results. Pearsons correlation coefficient was employed to analyze inferential statistics and test the hypotheses of the study. The findings show that all the four determinants considered in this study, thats strategy, funding, geothermal resource uncertainty and technical capacity, are positively correlated to successful implementation of geothermal projects in Kenya and are responsible for explaining 71 % of project implementation. It is concluded that the government plays a central role as far as successful implementation of geothermal projects is concerned. The researcher recommends harmonization (streamlining) of laws and regulations that guide and govern geothermal development as well as enactment of policies and guidelines that provide a clear framework of handling communities that host geothermal resources. It is further recommended that the government expedites the setting up of Geothermal Centre of Excellence to bridge the gap in local expertise.