Mugwe Manga (OS 2005) is co-founder and Director of Olsuswa Energy, Kenya, a greenfield geothermal exploration company. His passion for clean energy and participation in the green agenda on both the national and international fronts drove him to set up the company.
'The vast lands of Turkana, Kenya, are enchanting and perilous in equal measure. With folk tales from the indigenous peoples of steam emanating from the land symbolising the devil’s residence, the Barrier Volcanic Complex is a geological marvel.
In 2016, we set off on the same route as the Hungarian explorer Count Samuel Teleki de Szek towards the Barrier on the southern tip of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake popularly known as the Jade Sea, in search of geothermal energy. Lake Turkana occupies the northern end of the Great Rift Valley which straddles majestically across Kenya and boasts one of the world’s largest natural resources of geothermal energy that currently powers over 50% of the Kenyan electricity grid. Opening the next frontier of geothermal sites in order to add towards the renewable energy mix has been a goal of ours. Kenya’s geothermal potential is estimated at over 20,000 megawatt with the Barrier at over 2,000 megawatt.
We continue to develop the site in order to transform the many lives and livelihoods of communities and the country at large. With tremendous need to work towards a net zero world, geothermal energy is placed as a remarkable source of energy that, unlike solar and wind, is available 24/7, providing base load. As such, this offers further opportunities that we continue to explore such as developing green hydrogen that can be a feedstock for green ammonia, a potential fuel for the maritime industry.'
The journey continues...