At Kenya's Great Rift Valley, Zebras, antelopes and giraffes graze freely, unfazed by the wisps of steam that periodically vent into the air. Here, heat drawn from the earth's interior is converted into electricity and fed directly into the national grid.

NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Hell's Gate National Park, about 100 kilometers northwest of Kenya's capital Nairobi, is famed for its otherworldly landscape. Less known is its central role in powering Kenya's electricity grid.

Sheer red cliffs rise like walls cloven by a giant's axe, their faces layered with the solidified scars of ancient magma flows. Between them, compact power units dot the savannah, while steel pipelines thread through acacia groves, channelling underground heat into turbines.

Zebras, antelopes and giraffes graze freely, unfazed by the wisps of steam that periodically vent into the air. Here, heat drawn from the earth's interior is converted into electricity and fed directly into the national grid.

This striking setting underpins a rare distinction: geothermal power supplies more than 40 percent of Kenya's electricity -- the highest share of any country in the world.

ANCHOR FOR POWER PRICES

Data from Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the International Energy Agency show geothermal has consistently contributed 40 to 48 percent of Kenya's electricity in recent years, making it the foremost source by a considerable margin. The lion's share flows from the Olkaria geothermal field within Hell's Gate itself.

Located on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, Olkaria hosts one of the world's most concentrated and accessible high-enthalpy geothermal reservoirs. Kenya's total geothermal potential is estimated at around 10,000 MW, yet by the end of 2025, installed capacity remained below 4,000 MW -- leaving most resources untapped.

Once built, geothermal plants have near-zero fuel costs. In Kenya, generation costs roughly 0.07 U.S. dollars to 0.08 dollars per kilowatt-hour, compared with over 0.20 dollars for heavy fuel oil -- a gap of more than two to one. For a country with limited fossil fuel reserves, this has proven transformative: expanding geothermal capacity has helped stabilize industrial tariffs, cushioning the economy from imported inflation and supporting manufacturing competitiveness.

Unlike wind and solar, geothermal provides reliable baseload power, operating around the clock with annual utilization exceeding 8,000 hours. During droughts, when hydropower output drops sharply, it fills the gap and keeps the grid secure.

Its applications extend beyond electricity. Near Lake Naivasha, the Oserian flower farm uses geothermal well water to heat its greenhouses, making it Kenya's only fully renewable-powered flower estate. The state-owned Geothermal Development Company (GDC) has expanded direct-use projects across agriculture, industry and tourism -- including milk pasteurization, aquaculture and greenhouse heating. From the national grid to the furrowed field, this subterranean heat is weaving itself into the fabric of the Kenyan economy.

DISRUPTING MONOPOLY

Kenya's geothermal journey dates back to the 1950s. The commissioning of the Olkaria I plant in 1981 made it the first African country to generate electricity from geothermal energy.

For decades, however, progress was slow, constrained by a technological monopoly held by Western and Japanese firms over core equipment. At its nadir, the GDC went more than a decade without commissioning a single new power station.

That dynamic has shifted. Chinese companies have cracked the monopoly open, offering more cost-effective solutions. Leading the push is Kaishan Group, a private company from Quzhou in Zhejiang Province -- though its entry was not easy.

"Initially, the Kenyan government was sceptical of us," chairman Cao Kejian has recalled. "So I personally funded the construction of the first plant -- over 53 million U.S. dollars out of my own pocket." The gamble paid off. Serving as EPC contractor, Kaishan built the Sosian Menengai plant -- the first privately operated geothermal facility at the Menengai field -- which began operations in August 2023 after passing rigorous third-party assessments.

With its credentials established, Kaishan moved from contractor to owner. In late 2023, it acquired OrPower 22, an independent power producer at Menengai, and immediately launched construction of a new plant. Completed in just 14 months, the facility began commercial operations in March 2026, becoming Africa's first geothermal project fully invested in, built and operated by a Chinese enterprise. It is now regarded as the best-performing geothermal plant currently operating in Kenya.

The ambition does not stop at electricity. At Olkaria, Kaishan is developing the world's first integrated geothermal-to-hydrogen-and-ammonia project. A 165.4 MW plant will generate electricity to produce green hydrogen through electrolysis; that hydrogen is then combined with atmospheric nitrogen and naturally occurring carbon dioxide from the geothermal wells to manufacture green ammonia and fertilizer -- with raw materials drawn almost entirely from local sources.

The project is expected to produce 180,000 tonnes of urea and 300,000 tonnes of calcium ammonium nitrate annually, plugging a gaping hole in Kenya's domestic fertilizer production and easing the burden on local farmers.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, President Ruto called the investment "efficient, reliable and sustainable," adding that it would bolster food security and "save Kenya vast sums of hard currency previously spent on importing fertilizer -- marking a significant stride toward climate-resilient green industrialization."

Kaishan's general manager Dr. Tang Yan set out a broader vision. "We hope to work hand-in-hand with Kenya's energy sector," he said, adding that "leveraging Kaishan's modular geothermal technology and Kenya's extraordinary resources to build a green energy ecosystem covering clean power, green hydrogen, green ammonia and green methanol -- and together lead Africa toward a greener and more sustainable future."

BUILDING GREEN TOGETHER

President Ruto has made "green industrialization" a central pillar of his agenda. At his inauguration, he told Kenyans the country was "on a transition to clean energy that will support jobs, local economies and sustainable industrialization," and called on fellow African leaders: "Africa can lead the world. We have immense potential for renewable energy."

Kenya aims not only to meet its own energy needs, but to demonstrate that developing countries can achieve rapid growth while honoring their climate commitments. In that effort, China has emerged as a decisive partner.

At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit, China announced 10 partnership actions for jointly advancing modernization, including a Green Development Partnership committed to implementing clean energy projects across Africa. In Kenya, that commitment is visible across the map.

China Gezhouba Group's Thwake Dam will bring water security, irrigation and hydropower to over 1.3 million people in Kenya's historically water-scarce lower eastern region. In Garissa County, a Chinese-built 50 MW solar farm -- East Africa's largest photovoltaic facility -- supplies clean power to communities long cut off from the national grid. In Nairobi, Chinese firms are contributing to the Dandora waste-to-energy project, converting a longstanding waste management burden into a model of circular economy.

The grid itself has been transformed. China Energy Engineering Group built the Kenya-Tanzania 400 kV interconnector, while China State Grid helped construct East Africa's first high-voltage direct current line, bringing Ethiopian hydropower into the Kenyan network. Together, they have turned an isolated national grid into a regional system.

"As a global leader in this space," President Ruto has said, "Kenya continues to demonstrate how every nation can achieve sustained, rapid and transformative growth while remaining true to climate action commitments."

Deep in the Rift Valley, steam continues to rise ceaselessly from the earth's interior. Turbines hum quietly among the acacia trees, converting this subterranean energy into light for millions -- and soon, into nutrients for the nation's fields.

In a turbulent world hungry for certainty in energy, Kenya's offers a compelling answer: the green transition can begin from the ground beneath your feet.