East Africa Set For Geothermal Power Expansion: U.N.
Date: 10-Dec-08
Country: POLAND
Author: Anna Mudeva
POZNAN - East Africa is poised for expansion in geothermal power capacity next year to meet growing demand in the world's poorest continent, the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said Tuesday.
A U.N.-backed project testing new seismic and drilling technology in Kenya has proved that geothermal is a viable and cost effective source of power that has the potential to produce 7,000 megawatts in Africa, officials said.
"It's part of Africa's future," Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director told a news conference on the sidelines of a December 1-12 U.N. conference on fighting global warming.
"Geothermal is 100 percent indigenous, environmentally-friendly and a technology that has been underutilized for too long," he added.
Geothermal power comes from steam made from underground water heated by the Earth's core, which is in turn used to turn turbines.
The nearly $1 million project in the geologically active Great Rift Valley that runs through Kenya, has helped identify new drilling sites with production capacity of 4-5 MW from 2 MW generated from old wells.
It could mean a saving of as much as $75 million for the developer of a 70 MW installation as well as reduced electricity costs for consumers, the UNEP said in a statement.
The project is set to expand to Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania in 2009 by using the equipment and techniques piloted in Kenya and underwriting the risks of drilling, it said.
The total funding of nearly $18 million is provided by the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank.
The potential in Kenya alone is estimated at 4,000 MW compared with its current capacity of about 1,000 MW, Steiner said. Kenya gets 60 percent of its electricity from dams, 30 percent is fuel generated and the rest from geothermal.
By proving that geothermal power is economically viable, the Kenyan project has created incentives to attract private companies and reach the country's full potential, Steiner said.
Many African countries, including economic powerhouse South Africa, face serious supply challenges which have caused power outages from Senegal to Tanzania.
The U.N.'s Climate Panel says geothermal energy could provide 2 percent of total global energy production by 2030 from less than 0.4 percent in 2004.
The number of countries using geothermal power worldwide is estimated to increase to nearly 50 by 2010 from 20 in 2000.