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Kenya has become a global leader in geothermal energy over the past 13 years, with 42% of all energy used by the country produced in geothermal plants, says geothermal scientist Dr. Anna Mwangi on Climate Curious. In conversation with co-host Ben Hurst, Anna shares why the geology of the Great Rift Valley makes geothermal a great energy solution for Kenyans. Recorded live at TED Countdown in Nairobi.

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Created by TEDxLondon
Executive produced by Josie Colter
Produced by Ben Beheshty
Curated by Deesha Chandra
Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst
Communications by Tara Cooper and Issey Gladston

00:00 Introduction
01:03 Kenya’s geothermal energy revolution
01:44 The science behind geothermal energy
03:49 Job creation and economic impact
06:13 Environmental and wildlife considerations
10:31 Future of geothermal technology
13:36 Conclusion

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:00:00] Ben Hurst: Welcome to Climate Quickies Bite-sized nuggets of Climate Goodness. From our TEDxLondon experts in under 10 minutes in this week’s climate, curious, we are hearing about how Kenya’s geology, namely [00:00:15] the Great Rift Valley, is enabling them to fully embrace renewable energy in the form of geothermal.

[00:00:22] Ben Hurst: Quickly for those not quite sure of the science. Geothermal is basically taking heat from the earth and using it to run conventional power plants, [00:00:30] both cleanly and consistently. With 42% of Kenya’s electricity being supplied through geothermal, we had to find out from the source what this means for the country, the people.

[00:00:43] Ben Hurst: And also the [00:00:45] animals. We sat down with geothermal scientists. Dr. Anna Mwangi, who works in said power plants to get the scoop on harnessing the planet’s heat on how Kenya is harnessing the heat from under their feet. Here’s Anna Mwangi. [00:01:00] Stay curious.

[00:01:03] Kenya’s geothermal energy revolution

[00:01:03] Anna Mwangi: Kenya is one of the global leaders. Mm-hmm. In geothermal. Why?

[00:01:07] Anna Mwangi: Because in the last 13 years we were not even the top 10 Wow. Top producing, uh, countries for in geothermal.

[00:01:13] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm.

[00:01:14] Anna Mwangi: But within 10 years, [00:01:15] we’ve made incredible developments mm-hmm. That have added megawatts of megawatts to about 988 of installed capacity. 988 megawatts of capacity for Kenya. Okay. Uh, gen utilized in the [00:01:30] country.

[00:01:30] Ben Hurst: Yeah.

[00:01:30] Anna Mwangi: Uh, or develop. 42% of that is from Oh, wow. Geothermal.

[00:01:35] Ben Hurst: Wow. And

[00:01:36] Anna Mwangi: that, that growth happened in about 13 years. That’s

[00:01:41] Ben Hurst: crazy. Yes. That’s crazy. It’s,

[00:01:42] Anna Mwangi: it’s, it’s amazing.

[00:01:44] The science behind geothermal energy

[00:01:44] Anna Mwangi: If you look at. Uh, Africa is a continent. It has really beautiful landscapes. Mm-hmm. And one of those famous is the Great Rift Valley. I

[00:01:54] Ben Hurst: went to the Great RIF Valley.

[00:01:55] Ben Hurst: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:01:56] Anna Mwangi: Uh, so it extends all the way from, uh, Djibouti or [00:02:00] Ethiopia. The, are far and extends all the way to the Mozambique. Mm-hmm. So basically Africa is splitting into two, uh, through the, or basically being pulled in two directions. Okay. One towards the east, if you know the country, Somalia.

[00:02:13] Anna Mwangi: And part of Kenya. Mm-hmm. [00:02:15] And part of Tanzania mm-hmm. Is moving towards east to the Indian Ocean and the rest of the continent, the larger continent. So where Nigeria is, Uganda is mm-hmm. Is pulling to the west. Okay. So, I mean, the middle of that, uh, it’s [00:02:30] breaking, uh, uh, along the. Uh, great Rift Valley. As you pull the continental apart, then there’s a lot of magmatic activity that happens.

[00:02:38] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. Because you have, um, magma being generated and then flows as lava. At [00:02:45] the surface for people to understand, think about, um, a pressure cooker when you’re cooking. Mm-hmm. If it is closed and you have, uh, something boiling and if you remove the safety pin, you’ll have steam coming out. Steam, steam, steam.

[00:02:59] Anna Mwangi: [00:03:00] Very high pressure. Right, right. So same thing. So that geothermal for us, what I do as a geophysicist and others mm-hmm. Other geoscientist. We do surface studies to find out where these area that are pressure cooker like.

[00:03:14] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. [00:03:15]

[00:03:15] Anna Mwangi: So you’re able to drill into them. We advise how to drill. Mm-hmm. Basically like putting a straw in the ground mm-hmm.

[00:03:22] Anna Mwangi: Through a drill rig. And you have a geothermal well. We do up to three kilometers. Mm-hmm. And within that, we’re able to capture these hot fluids, [00:03:30] comes to the surface. We channel them in pipelines to a power plant.

[00:03:34] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:03:34] Anna Mwangi: Run a a a generator. Mm-hmm. And. Um, then, then we, we, we, a turbine, which is coupled to a generator and we make farm power [00:03:45] electricity.

[00:03:45] Anna Mwangi: Okay. So, so that is geothermal,

[00:03:47] Ben Hurst: right.

[00:03:47] Anna Mwangi: Electricity generator.

[00:03:48] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:03:49] Job creation and economic impact

[00:03:49] Ben Hurst: One of the things that I’ve noticed, or one of the things that I was really paying attention to while we were in the Great Reef Valley Yeah. Was just how many people there were around, like, how many people, they were in hard hats walking around doing stuff.

[00:04:01] Ben Hurst: Yeah. Like working jobs. Mm-hmm. And this, it seems like this has been like a massive. Opportunity for job creation Yeah. Across the country. Mm-hmm. Um, are there like other things that you can point towards as like massive successes that have come [00:04:15] from, obviously the energy that’s being created. Yeah. But other things that have shifted in, in the nation because of this energy sources that’s been discovered.

[00:04:23] Ben Hurst: And also at the same time, are there like negatives? Are there cons to, uh, using geothermal energy in any [00:04:30] ways?

[00:04:30] Anna Mwangi: Yes. So it’s been, uh, a transformative change, right, for Kenya.

[00:04:35] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm.

[00:04:35] Anna Mwangi: First of all, uh, like my company, Ken Engine, it has a logo of energy for the nation,

[00:04:40] Anna Mwangi: okay?

[00:04:40] Anna Mwangi: Right. So. Developing Geothermals, first of all is a [00:04:45] stable power.

[00:04:45] Anna Mwangi: So if I was to do a comparison with two renewable sources, solar and geothermal. Mm-hmm. So geothermal is reliable because like today’s a cloudy day, right? Mm-hmm. So if you have a solar power plant, what happens? You are going to [00:05:00] and generate because, um, there’s a cloud cover, right? Right. Or for wind, when there’s no wind, then it almost means you’re not generating.

[00:05:08] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. But for geothermal. It goes on and on and on.

[00:05:11] Ben Hurst: It never, does it never run out? No, because the earth, earth is always hot two days.

[00:05:14] Anna Mwangi: Oh, [00:05:15] yes.

[00:05:15] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:05:15] Anna Mwangi: And the fluids that you are, um, extracting from the ground mm-hmm. You’re still reinjecting them back to get heated up. Okay. And you recover them. So there’s ity there.

[00:05:24] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. So you’re recycling the fluid, so making it, uh, sustainable.

[00:05:29] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. [00:05:30]

[00:05:30] Anna Mwangi: You don’t see any smoke. It’s just steam. And, uh, if it’s a cold day, you’ll actually think you’re in heaven. Mm. Because of the, uh, the, the cloud, the cover, yes. The mist. It’s beautiful. So in terms of that, it has helped [00:05:45] Kenya to strengthen, uh, its economy.

[00:05:47] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. By having reliable power. Now we also in a arid, semi arid, uh, country, so we are prone sometimes too. Uh, seasons where there’s drought,

[00:05:57] Anna Mwangi: right?

[00:05:57] Anna Mwangi: And so for geothermal it does not [00:06:00] matter.

[00:06:00] Anna Mwangi: Mm. Did it rain?

[00:06:01] Anna Mwangi: Did it not? No, because we, we are relying on deep circulation. Wow. That if you are to alter, that may be a change of 20 years in the hydrology for you to have any impact on the geothermal.

[00:06:12] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm.

[00:06:13] Anna Mwangi: But

[00:06:13] Environmental and wildlife considerations

[00:06:13] Anna Mwangi: that means also we have to [00:06:15] conserve our catchment zones. And what you saw also was you could see. Uh, steam, you could see development. Mm-hmm. But at the same time in the background, there was a giraffe.

[00:06:26] Ben Hurst: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They’re not impacted by it at all. They were ze, [00:06:30] right? Yeah. So

[00:06:31] Anna Mwangi: they have strengthened.

[00:06:32] Anna Mwangi: So we have energy tourism. Yeah. And we also have the ecotourism. So we are able to, uh, have an environmental team that ensures that we know the numbers of animals in the area. We do, [00:06:45] we give them watering points. Mm-hmm. So that they don’t even have to walk far. So they’re within the system.

[00:06:50] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:06:50] Anna Mwangi: If you are, it’s the only park, for example, health kit park, only park, you can walk and cycle.

[00:06:55] Ben Hurst: Yeah. We cycle through it exactly. Eight kilometers. Long way. Yeah. But yeah. [00:07:00]

[00:07:00] Anna Mwangi: So now you see this sustainability in that you can have development and still meet your sustainability goals. Yeah. You don’t have to really ruin the environment for you to have energy.

[00:07:12] Anna Mwangi: Incredible. And

[00:07:12] Anna Mwangi: again, these are natural resources.

[00:07:14] Anna Mwangi: So [00:07:15] Kenya is utilizing its natural resources. Mm. So converting that heat to energy and powering the nation. Right. So those are value adds. We have communities that have benefited from this. Yeah.

[00:07:28] Ben Hurst: Massively through jobs.

[00:07:29] Anna Mwangi: [00:07:30] Directly. Mm-hmm. And also indirectly because um, in terms of infrastructure, it is because of geothermal that you have that existing infrastructure, so you have free flow of people.

[00:07:40] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. You make an area to be economically active. At the same time, the [00:07:45] technologist, like for example, I’m a geophysicist who is mainly within the geothermal space.

[00:07:50] Ben Hurst: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:51] Anna Mwangi: Um, I’ve had a lot of training, um. And, and interactions with, uh, other countries in the us um, [00:08:00] in, in, in, in New Zealand. Mm-hmm. In Iceland.

[00:08:03] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. Because they’re also, uh, developing this technology. So over time we increase efficiency and we build capacity on these sciences so that we are self-reliant. These power plants, we are running them. So we are [00:08:15] creating jobs and, and good jobs that somebody can actually have. Dignified work and have a way to inspire young people, especially to get into stem.[00:08:30]

[00:08:30] Anna Mwangi: We monitor noise pollution. Okay. We also monitor these animals, their migratory path. Um, when you are there, you could see that um, we have a government agency, uh, the Kenya Wildlife Service mm-hmm. Who monitor the animals and as [00:08:45] we do our development. We have a partnership whereby before you do any development, they are involved to guide us.

[00:08:51] Anna Mwangi: Right? Uh, we also have NEMA or then the environmental agencies that ensures that they track our, [00:09:00] our work and we get the correct environmental impact and social, uh, assessments, baseline studies, and as we develop, so, because it’s in our interest mm-hmm. Um, to ensure that there sustainability now. The animals there.

[00:09:14] Anna Mwangi: ’cause our [00:09:15] first power plant was 1981. Mm-hmm. So, and these animals have been around in that space. Mm-hmm. And of course we still, it was still a larger area for the animals, not just the Health Gate National Park.

[00:09:28]  Ben Hurst: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:28] Anna Mwangi: So the animals are used to the [00:09:30] noise, but if you notice, it can get hot during the day.

[00:09:33] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. So animals are like people, nobody wants to work in their hot direct hand in the heat. Yeah. Everybody’s finding the shade. But in the evening. If you are cycling in the evening mm-hmm. The animals tend to come out.

[00:09:43] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:09:44] Anna Mwangi: So mainly they’ll [00:09:45] be in the bush because of the heat.

[00:09:46] Ben Hurst: Yeah.

[00:09:47] Anna Mwangi: And they’re also, they have their territories mostly they’ll sleep during the day and at nighttime they’re very active.

[00:09:53] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. So, in fact, when we drive through the park, we have to ensure the speed limits of 40 [00:10:00] kilometers per hour to ensure that. We don’t heat the animals. Mm-hmm. So from hippos and they keep moving from the Lake Nasha because it’s an open territory. Mm-hmm. So they, they, they move from the lake to the park and bank.

[00:10:13] Anna Mwangi: Yeah. So there’s a lot of movement at [00:10:15] night.

[00:10:15] Anna Mwangi: Yeah.

[00:10:15] Anna Mwangi: Yeah. So animals naturally, we like to chill during the day and towards evening. Then it’s eating time. So during the day is mainly siesta, right, because basically it is hot. Yeah. So they’ll either be within the bush where they shed. And at [00:10:30] in the evening they all come out.

[00:10:31] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:10:31] Future of geothermal technology

[00:10:31] Ben Hurst: What’s the most exciting thing about it and where do you see the technology going in the future?

[00:10:37] Anna Mwangi: Yes. So I’m a fan of nature. Mm-hmm. I’m a fan of diversity.

[00:10:41] Ben Hurst: Mm-hmm.

[00:10:41] Anna Mwangi: And I’m a fan, especially for Africa. ’cause we have, uh, a [00:10:45] huge biodiversity, especially in Kenyan, also Africa. Mm-hmm. So for me is how can we maintain that and at the same time, develop.

[00:10:54] Anna Mwangi: Uh, sustainably, right. You know, in the modern world. Right, right. So that’s where geothermal [00:11:00] comes in because it has been demonstrated that you can actually generate, uh, reliable power and still maintain. Uh, your ecosystems. Mm-hmm. And that means it’s a win-win for [00:11:15] both the environment and also for the people.

[00:11:17]  Ben Hurst: Yeah.

[00:11:18] Anna Mwangi: And that security, ensuring that people are productive so that they can be able to have. Jobs and economies. Mm-hmm. Because everyone would want decent work. Mm-hmm. And [00:11:30] decent living. So promoting the way of life with the people. So if we’re able to promote this, and energy is always at the heart of it.

[00:11:37] Anna Mwangi: For example, if you look at our healthcare mm-hmm. We can’t say that we’re going to develop hospitals and not have energy to run. [00:11:45] Machines. Right. If they come in.

[00:11:47] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:11:47] Anna Mwangi: And we need reliable power. Yeah. If somebody is on life support,

[00:11:52] Ben Hurst: can’t

[00:11:52] Anna Mwangi: be having blackouts, it can’t be that they have died because there’s a blackout.

[00:11:54] Ben Hurst: Yeah.

[00:11:55] Anna Mwangi: So that geothermal is such a pillar to the growth. Right. Of [00:12:00] our, our nation. And of course we have been able to utilize what we have, where we are. So we are also helping other countries that ha do have the potential.

[00:12:11] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:11] Anna Mwangi: So that they’re able to develop their resources too. [00:12:15] Now we have made a lot of mistakes, but as a Kenyan community, as you know, we are quite innovative.

[00:12:20] Anna Mwangi: We have been able to call, call these failures to become actually opportunities at another time. Mm-hmm. For example, when you drill and you’re expecting a [00:12:30] production, well. And of course it’s, it can be pricey to to drill. Mm-hmm. But you don’t get a production well, so you call it a failure. Mm-hmm. And after five years, six years, you’re doing another power plant and.

[00:12:44] Anna Mwangi: You need a [00:12:45] place to reinject your fluid.

[00:12:46] Anna Mwangi: Right.

[00:12:46] Anna Mwangi: So your failure, well, you don’t have to drill another one, it’s now taking in the fluid. Yeah. So such turnarounds have also come through for us.

[00:12:55] Ben Hurst: Right.

[00:12:56] Anna Mwangi: So in a way that we are able to do things together, [00:13:00] learning together, not just Kenya, but also supporting the region.

[00:13:03] Anna Mwangi: Mm-hmm. And also the world community because these technologies, they’re being made, uh, in all of the world. We have partners in India. Japanese have really, really supported the technology from the [00:13:15] turbines and also the uk, the generators, you know, so even if you don’t have an active geothermal system, but you’re able to make this technology that we can use.

[00:13:25] Anna Mwangi: So that’s why all hands on deck mm-hmm. Are important as we have this conversation [00:13:30] of sustainable energy and sustainable transition. Yeah. Um, to clean energy.

[00:13:36] Conclusion

[00:13:36] Ben Hurst: Thanks for listening to this quickie.

[00:13:38] Maryam Pasha: This episode was created by our superstar podcast team at TEDx London. Until next time,

[00:13:43] Ben Hurst: stay curious.[00:13:45]