East Africa, a geothermal showcase

The hot underground rocks in East Africa’s Rift Valley are thought to be a promising solution for energy production. The first results were recorded in Kenya, under the auspices of the United Nations and the expertise of the Icelanders.

In Africa, high-temperature geothermal resources – used to generate electricity – are usually found in areas of tectonic and volcanic activity, particularly in the East African Rift area. The Great Rift Valley is characterised by volcanic and fluvial deposits, marked by an enormous geographical fracture which extends across the whole of Africa, from the Red Sea to Mozambique. Of all the countries that the rift crosses, Kenya is considered, at least at the present time, as a key area for the production of electricity from geothermal energy. The exploitable potential for electricity is estimated to be 2,000 MW. Today, this potential is partially used.

Using their expertise in the art of converting the Earth’s energy into energy, Icelanders provide advice and technical assistance. They provide assistance to projects in Africa, as well as in Papua New Guinea, the Comoros, and even in China, New Zealand, the Philippines and Latin America. That is to say, wherever Vulcan’s forces are at work.

Around the world

In Iceland, there is a growing number of companies specialising in geothermal power. One of the largest companies, Iceland GeoSurvey (ISOR), is State-owned. Since it was set up in 1945, it has worked on geothermal projects in more than forty countries, particularly in East Africa. Geothermal energy is “a way for countries to free themselves from dependency on other countries for energy”, the Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ossur Skarphedinsson, said in 2008, underlining to the United Nations General Assembly the important role played by his country in geothermal energy. It is thus within the framework of a UN programme that ISOR has been entrusted with an important task, that of training countries in the use of geothermal energy. Training courses in Indonesia and Kenya are already underway.

Founded in 2008, Reykjavik Geothermal is already working in Abu Dhabi, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and India. Reykjavik Energy Invest, subsidiary of Reykjavik Energy, was instrumental in setting up a geothermal power plant in Djibouti, where four 2.5 km boreholes have been dug.

University courses

The Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA – see the report on Iceland) is fully involved in these projects, particularly the ARGeo programme. Thus, courses in geothermal exploration have been organised by the United Nations University in Reykjavik and the Electricity Generation Company of Kenya (KenGen). These courses are part of the Geothermal Training Programme of the United Nations University in Reykjavik (UNU/GTP). The funding for the programme is part of Iceland’s contribution to promoting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Participants have come from the Comoros Islands, Egypt, Eritrea, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Yemen and Algeria.

ARGeo

The African Rift Valley Geothermal Development Facility (ARGeo) project was launched five years ago by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project receives funds of almost 15 million Euros, including from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

The project, which mitigates the drilling risks in Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, began in early 2009 and has made it possible to use the equipment and techniques tested by the Kenyan electricity company, KenGen, with crucial support from the Icelanders.

Kenya and private-sector investors are also looking for financial assistance for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol in order to extend the additional 35 MW in the validation phase.

The current demand for electricity in Kenya is approximately 1,000 MW, according to UNEP. The country is heavily dependent on hydro-electric power stations, which in recent years have suffered from low rainfall and diminishing water reserves. The country has set itself the target of generating 1,200 MW from geothermal power between by 2015.

"Combating climate change while simultaneously getting energy to the two billion people who do not have access to it are among the central challenges of this generation” announced Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director.

“Geothermal energy is 100% indigenous, environmentally-friendly and a technology which has been underutilised for too long.”

Flowers and electricity

Geothermal energy is extracted, depending on the temperature, to produce electricity or for heating.

If water, which circulates through tectonic fractures, reaches a temperature higher than 100°C, we talk about ‘high enthalpy resources’. Water can be captured as steam (so called dry steam) or as a mixture of both liquid and steam (wet steam).  Depending on the nature and properties of the water at the surface, different systems are used to produce electricity. This is particularly true of the geothermal plant in Olkaria, Kenya.

However, low-energy resources whose temperature is between 30°C and 100°C are mainly used for local heating and for heating greenhouses. At one of the largest farms in Kenya, managed by the Oserian Development Company, 70 hectares of greenhouses heated by geothermal energy produce flowers which are sold in Europe.

M.M.B.