KENYA/ FILE: Geothermal energy in Africa's Rift Valley could solve Africa's energy woes

Record ID: 361003

  • Title: KENYA/ FILE: Geothermal energy in Africa's Rift Valley could solve Africa's energy woes
  • Date: 22nd January 2009
  • Summary: NAIVASHA, KENYA (JANUARY 12, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE EXTERIOR VIEW OF OLKARIA GEOTHERMAL PLANT CAR DRIVES INTO PLANT COMPOUND/ SIGN READING VIEW OF COOLING STATION VARIOUS OF STEAM PIPES AT PLANT GEOFFREY MUCHEMI, ENERGY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT KENGEN AT PLANT VIEW OF STEAM PIPE/ STEAM COMING OUT EMISSION DOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEOFFREY MUCHEMI, ENERGY DEVELOPMENT MANA
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZ7UTQWDI96QDFFU03KCX04GR
  • Story Text: Africa's sweeping Rift Valley could have the power to solve Africa's energy problems. Experts say steam from the earth's crust, known as geothermal energy, should be used more widely as eco-friendly power.
    Many marvel at the sight of pink flamingos and abundant nature gracing the thousands of kilometres of the striking Rift Valley, but it is what is going on deep below the earth's crust in East Africa that scientists are interested in.
    Geothermal energy is heat stored in the earth and it could help ease the continent's energy woes as a renewable source of clean energy.
    At Africa's largest geothermal plant a labyrinth of pipes snakes around Kenya's remote Naivasha Hell's Gate national park, carrying steam from underneath the earth's crust to power the Olkaria Geothermal facility.
    The steam -- extracted through wells that go as deep as 3 km (2 miles) to water reservoirs near rocks as hot as 360 degrees Celsius -- are used to turn turbines for energy.
    Although the method is reliable and a comparatively cheap renewable energy source in the long run, of all the countries on the African part of the Rift Valley that have the geothermal potential, estimated at about 14,000 MW, only Kenya and Ethiopia have attempted to exploit it.
    Geoffrey Muchemi, Energy Development Manager at KenGen, Kenya's biggest power producer, says geothermal energy is the cleanest resource and could replace fuel energies that are expensive and harmful to the environment.

    "We have estimated geothermal potential for Africa to 7,000 MW and through an organization that is organized by the World Bank called, African Geothermal we are trying to rally everyone on Africa to go geothermal,"
    said Muchemi.
    Kenya is already generating 167 MW but has the potential for 3,000 MW, according to KenGen.
    Kenya's Kengen generates 115 MW from two power plants in Naivasha but plans to increase that to the 1,260 MW in 10 years.
    At the moment, Kenya's peak demand has matched the 1,200 generation capacity, making the need to accelerate geothermal development even more urgent.
    Olkaria - its oldest plant - has been operational for almost 30 years.
    But the challenge for Kenya, as with all the other African countries, is financing. It costs about $5 million to drill a single well and requires sinking at least 21 wells before actual production begins.
    The World Bank and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have begun a project known as ARGeo to develop a skilled workforce and fund the massive investment demands.
    Peerke de Bakker, from UNEP, says raising the cash for geothermal exploration should not be too difficult for African countries in the future.
    He said they are almost ready to launch projects across the entire African rift, including Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi. He said Congo and the Comoros have expressed an interest.

    "This project with help the countries building their technical and institutional capabilities of handling geothermal projects and the World bank is there for the investment component, they want to facilitate a risk mitigation facility as they call it in order to help these countries with the drilling risk, the financial risks of it," said Bakker.
    The UNEP last month announced it had completed a project testing advanced seismic and drilling techniques that could mean savings of as much as $75 million for a 70 MW facility.
    But other than the cost, geothermal has the upper hand over other forms of generations that are popular on the continent, such as hydroelectric plants.
    The massive dams used to turn turbines are vulnerable to drought and bad for ecosystems, according to environmentalists.
    Many African countries are reliant on the dams and turn to much more expensive and environmentally unfriendly fossil fuel generation in times of drought, which is common on the continent.
    KenGen earned $800,000 from selling carbon credits in 2007.
    But De Bakker advises that African countries should not altogether write off water generation.

    "I think all these countries it is better to have a healthy mix of preferably renewable energy resources and that is being achieved if you mix geothermal, even with wind power and also with hydro power as being the most likely energy source that would make a difference for these countries,"
    said Bakker.
    Analysts say Africa's lack of reliable and inexpensive power supply is a major detriment to both foreign investment and development.
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