Kenya is endowed with geothermal resources mainly located in the Rift Valley. Electricity demand in Kenya has continued to grow steadily over the years and has caused great pressure on the conventional sources of energy like hydropower, which is normally affected by weather changes. It is estimated conservatively that the Kenya Rift has a potential of greater 2000 MWe of Geothermal Power. A total of twenty sites have been earmarked for further investigation. Exploration first started by drilling two wells in 1956 in Olkaria I and was followed by increased interest in the 1970s..

Initial production started in 1981 when the first plant of 15MW was commissioned in Olkaria I currently 45MWe is generated by Olkaria I geothermal power station; 70 MWe is produced from Olkaria II (both operated by KenGen) and an IPP is producing 12Mwe at Olkaria III. KenGen and the IPP produce a total of 129 MWe of geothermal energy and this is expected to increase to 576MWe within the next 20 years

Kenya has moved very recently into an energy crisis situation due to severe drought, likely from changes in rainfall patterns associated with climate change, closing down one hydropower facility with others to soon follow. They rely on hydropower for 60% of their energy, and their installed capacity of only 1,289 MW (compared to 40,000 MW in South Africa), against a peak demand of 1,072 MW in December 2008, allows for little reserve. The government is considering distributing free energy-saving light bulbs as a stop gap measure, but their long term strategy is to increase capacity by at least 2,000 MW between now and 2020 (some sources suggest 9,000 MW in the next 20 years). Today, the country’s total power generation - 719 MW hydropower, 163 MW geothermal and 407 MW thermal - has allowed for only a 3.5% (37 MW) reserve margin. With the closure of Masinga Dam (capacity of 40 MW) which removed 14 MW from the national grid, a severe energy crisis is looming.