Exergy International has chosen Nairobi as the base for its expansion across East Africa, setting up Exergy East Africa Ltd. to serve geothermal and broader clean-energy markets in the region. The Italian technology company, part of the TICA Group, specialises in geothermal power systems, waste-heat recovery, heat pumps and battery energy storage. Its decision to establish a permanent local presence reflects a simple calculation: East Africa has a growing clean-energy market, but supplying the technology needed to develop that market requires companies to be close to developers, utilities and industrial customers.
Kenya was a natural starting point because it already has one of Africa’s most established geothermal industries. The country has nearly 980 MW of installed geothermal capacity, while its domestic resource potential is estimated at up to 10 GW. Across the wider East African Rift System, the potential is estimated at around 20 GW. For a company whose core technology includes Organic Rankine Cycle systems, which convert heat from geothermal resources and other sources into electricity, that creates a substantial addressable market. Nairobi also offers the regional business, logistics and professional-services infrastructure needed to operate beyond Kenya.
The new subsidiary is intended to serve more than geothermal developers. Exergy plans to work with industrial customers, public institutions and utilities across East Africa, providing ORC systems for geothermal and waste-heat-to-power projects, alongside industrial heat pumps and battery storage. That broadens the opportunity beyond new power plants. Factories can recover energy that would otherwise be wasted, businesses can improve thermal efficiency, and storage can help manage variable renewable generation and provide greater resilience. The company is therefore positioning itself as an energy technology supplier rather than simply a geothermal equipment vendor.
The Nairobi office also gives Exergy a local team through which it can build relationships and identify projects before they reach procurement. Matteo Cavadini has been appointed Business Development Manager for Africa and will be based in Nairobi, supporting engagement with developers and other regional customers. That local presence matters in markets where energy projects can take years to move from resource assessment to financing, construction and operation. Technology companies need to understand the project pipeline, financing structures and local partners long before equipment is ordered.
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Exergy’s expansion also fits into a wider pattern of international clean-energy companies establishing regional operations in Kenya. GoodWe has similarly expanded its Nairobi presence, while other geothermal developments are attracting international companies and investors. The significance is not simply that another foreign company has opened an office. It suggests that Kenya is increasingly functioning as both a clean-energy market and a platform from which technology companies can pursue opportunities across East Africa. If that cluster continues to grow, Nairobi’s value may lie not only in the electricity Kenya generates, but in the companies, expertise and technology ecosystem that increasingly sit around it.
