Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has announced the formal gazettement of its Green Energy Park in Olkaria as a Customs Controlled Area. The regulatory milestone unlocks targeted fiscal structures designed to capture international manufacturing investment within the geothermal production cluster.
The policy adjustment moves the manufacturing zone into a specialised tariff administration framework, lowering overhead costs for industrial operations. Geothermal infrastructure in the Olkaria region provides continuous baseload power, bypassing grid stability issues that affect regional manufacturing lines. KenGen confirmed the onboarding of a fourth major commercial investor to the park simultaneously with the gazettement, anchoring the industrial hub around heavy industrial processes and green manufacturing.
The project is situated at the Olkaria geothermal fields in Naivasha, operating within the Energy and Utilities sector. KenGen led the regulatory development in coordination with the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry. Commercial assets within the zone benefit from direct high-voltage power connections, eliminating standard distribution surcharges. Financial parameters focus on reducing input duties for machinery, with structural data from KenGen indicating a double-digit percentage decrease in initial capital expenditure for incoming industrial operators.
The development creates specific business opportunities for international firms. Industrial developers can establish low-carbon manufacturing plants utilising direct geothermal steam and electricity at subsidised industrial tariffs. Logistics operators have an opening to construct specialised freight handling infrastructure linked to the Naivasha inland container depot. Chemical engineering companies can secure offtake agreements for geothermal byproducts, including industrial-grade carbon dioxide and silica. Technical service providers can supply automated energy management systems directly to the industrial cluster, while engineering firms can compete for contracts to construct custom factory shells within the customs-controlled perimeter.
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