Mawe Mbili in Soysambu Conservancy

Mawe Mbili in Soysambu Conservancy : The volcanic rock formation known as Mawe Mbili is located in the Soysambu Conservancy and on the northern edge of the Elmenteita Badlands in the Nakuru County of Kenya. It is located northwest of Nairobi, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Lake Elmenteita, at the base of Scout Hat Hill. Mawe Mbili, which means “two stones” in Swahili, is the name given to two lava ash monoliths that rise from a small patch of grassland within the lava Badlands. The Elmenteita Badlands were formed by volcanic lava flows that occurred during the Holocene epoch.

The volcanic rock formation known as Mawe Mbili is located in the Soysambu Conservancy and on the northern edge of the Elmenteita Badlands in the Nakuru County of Kenya. It is located northwest of Nairobi, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Lake Elmenteita, at the base of Scout Hat Hill. Mawe Mbili, which means “two stones” in Swahili, is the name given to two lava ash monoliths that rise from a small patch of grassland within the lava Badlands. The Elmenteita Badlands were formed by volcanic lava flows that occurred during the Holocene epoch.

Once upon a time, herdsmen who looked after the local animals utilised one of the stones’ sizable chambers at the base as a shelter during bad weather. The Sleeping Warrior Eco Lodge is located prominently on Mawe Mbili. Nearby are a hot water well and a hot spring house in the Japanese style. Safari rallies in 2007, 2008, and 2009 took their course from the border of Delamere Estates and Elmenteita Badlands on Soysambu Ranch, around the back of Scout Hat Hill, and past a sign placed by the British during the Mau Mau insurrection in 1955 for helicopter landings. The preserve did not include this clearing.

Elementaita Badlands

The Elementeita Badlands, which is often referred to as the Otutu Forest or Ututu Forest, are a lava flow in Kenya that spans across a space of around 36 square kilometres (9,000 acres). Previously, a dense dryland forest with Leleshwa bushes (Tarchonanthus camphoratus) and other types of cedar trees (Juniperus spp.) was present in the area. There are also Boophone and Wild Jasmine can be found.

Ol Donyo Eburru

The Ol Doinyo Eburru volcanic complex, which is active, is located northwest of Lake Naivasha in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. Eburru is located north of the massif

The Soysambu Conservancy is sandwiched between Lake Elmenteita to the east and Lake Nakuru to the west. Other volcanoes in the rift with Eburru are Suswa, Longonot, Olkaria, Elmenteita, and Menengai. It is divided from the Olkaria volcano to the south by the Akira plains.

The Eburru massif rises from the rift floor by 980 metres (3,220 feet). It progressed through three phases. With the exception of a few minor pantelleritic lava outcrops, the western products of the first stage are now largely buried. On the eastern side of the mountain, the second stage created the 19.5 kilometres (12.1 mi) long Waterloo Ridge. The Eburru massif is currently ridge-shaped and eroded, with an east-west orientation. The volcanic complex has an area of 470 square kilometres (180 sq mi). There are two summits, Eburru hill and West hill. There are young craters on the eastern part of the ridge.  The Eburru massif is currently being eroded in an east-west direction this gives  it a ridge-like structure. The volcanic complex spans 470 square kilometres or 180 square miles in total. The West Hill and Eburru Hill are the two summits.

Olkaria

In Great Rift Valley which is directly south of Lake Naivasha is a region known as the Olkaria Area. It  produce clean electric power and is geothermally active. An estimated 2,000 MW of potential exists in the area. The maximum daily electrical peak demand for the entire nation was almost twice as high in 2008–2009.

At Hell’s Gate National Park there is a  geothermal complex and power plants. It is 120km from Nairobi. It is located west of Mount Longonot a stratovolcano east of the western boundary of the rift valley and south of the Ol Doinyo Eburru complex and north of Mount Suswa. It is 240 square kilometres (93 square miles) total make up the volcanic field.

Olkaria Hill, which is 340 metres (1,120 feet) high and 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) broad, is the greatest structure. During a time in the past when lake levels were much higher than they are now, water rushing out of Lake Naivasha created a narrow valley that traverses the complex and has cliffs up to 200 metres (660 feet) high.

Olkaria’s surface is dominated by a lava field and peralkaline rhyolite dome. The complex is home to a large number of small-scale volcanic activity centres. There are at least eighty of these hotspots, most of which are steep-sided lava and pyroclastic domes or thick lava flows.

At Olkaria, rock extracted from a drill 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) deep dates back to 450,000 years. However, the surface characteristics are only 20,000 years old [The Ol Njorowa pantellerite deposit with pyroclastic rocks, lava flows, and plugs is the earliest exposed sequence.

Olkaria is located in the Naivasha sub-basin the region is famous for its fumaroles, hot springs, and hot grounds. The steam jets and geysers of Lake Bogoria are located further north where the temperatures can reach 96 °C (205 °F). In Olkaria the Njorowa Gorge has steam fumaroles. At the nearby Eburru and Olkaria locations of the subsurface reservoirs, temperatures of 280 °C (536 °F) and 340 °C (644 °F), respectively, have been recorded. The geothermal producing zones of Olkaria are located between 750 and 1,000 metres (2,460 to 3,300 feet) below the surface, and even deeper, between 1,100 and 1,300 metres (3,600 to 4,300 feet).

Olkaria’s initial geothermal investigation began in 1955. By 1959, two test wells had been dug but were not successful. There wasn’t much more done until 1967, when 27 shallow wells that could reach a depth of 61 metres (200 feet) were sunk; some of these wells produced steam. The United Nations Development Programme and the Kenya Power Company started making systematic attempts to investigate and subsequently utilise the geothermal potential in 1970. KenGen is currently known as the Kenya Electricity Generating Company, or KenGen. Production wells were dug, and in July 1981, commercial energy production began at a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plant with a 15 MW turbo-generator.

A third station, Olkaria II, with a production capacity of 105 MW and 5.2 MW utilised to power the station itself, was erected in response to increasing electricity demands. Three Mitsubishi turbines, each producing 35 MW, power it. 22 wells that each produce an estimated 35 tonnes of steam per hour are where the steam is obtained.

Olkaria I (45 MW) and Olkaria II (70 MW) were owned by KenGen as of 2005. A division of Ormat Technologies privately owns Olkaria III, a third power plant with a 48 MW capacity. A surface discharge is prevented by the use of air-cooled converters at the Olkaria III facility. Of all the power produced in Kenya, this new technique has the least negative environmental effects.