Commissioned in 1968, Kindaruma was the first major power station in independent Kenya.It was originally designed with a provision of three turbine generator units. However, two vertical Kaplan turbines were installed. The third unit has been installed with a capacity of 24MW thereby increasing the station’s output to 72 MW and an upgrade of the first two units is currently underway. Power from Kindaruma is transmitted directly to Nairobi or to Kamburu via a 132KV substation. Kindaruma is a surface power station and visitors have the luxury of observing the flow of water out of the tailrace.The reservoir occupies a surface area of 2.5 sq. km.The spillway has three vertical gates and the dam is equipped with an emergency spillway in case of excessively high floods.

The station is situated 170 km north east of Nairobi. The dam has a capacity of 14 million cubic metres of water.