The new plant, which is slated to come online in 2013, will be constructed adjacent to the existing 48MW Olkaria III geothermal power plant near Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
The PPA amendment includes an option to increase the combined 84MW capacity from the new and existing plants to up to 100MW, subject to monitoring and assessment of the geothermal reservoir capacity.
Ormat built the first 48MW plant in three stages in parallel to the resource development, allowing the company to advance revenue generation and long-term resource testing at commercial conditions.
The first stage commenced in August 2000 with 8MW and was developed as part of the initial appraisal of the Olkaria III reservoir.
This was followed by commercial well drilling and construction of a second and third stage to reach the 48MW target capacity, which was achieved in January 2009.
The new plant will utilize Ormat’s air cooled technology, which does not consume any water.
