| Abstract |
The East African Rift System (EARS) is one of the major tectonic structures of the earth where the heat energy of the interior of the earth escapes to the surface. This energy flow takes place in the form of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and the upward transport of heat by hot springs and natural vapor emissions. The EARS extends for about 6500 km from the Middle East (Dead Sea-Jordan Valley) in the North to Mozambique in the South. The EARS passes through Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. Estimated Geothermal energy resource potential in the EARS is more than 20,000 MWe. Despite the high geothermal potential of the EARS, only Kenya and Ethiopia have installed a capacity of about 220 MWe. Countries such as Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Comoros are at various exploration stages. So far, other countries such as Burundi, DRC, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique have not gone beyond the inventory work of the resource potential. Geothermal energy presents a clean and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fuels. Geothermal energy has the potential to provide long-term, secure base-load energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. Accessible geothermal energy from the Earth’s interior can supply heat to generate electric energy and for direct uses. Climate change is not expected to have any major impact on the effectiveness of geothermal energy utilization, but the widespread of deployment of geothermal energy could play a meaningful role in mitigating climate change. Geothermal development, in the East Africa region, has been constrained by the risks that are associated with resource exploration and development and financial risks associated with investment in power development projects. Lack of appropriate investment and institutional settings in many countries have also contributed to the slow pace of development. Therefore, overall strategy to reduce the above risks and to accelerate geothermal development in the countries of EARS is to adopt a regional geothermal resource development approach. One of the main regional geothermal programmes in the region is the UNEP-African Rift Geothermal Development Facility Programme (ARGeo). The UNEP-ARGeo project’s objective is to promote geothermal resource utilization by reducing the risks associated with resource’s exploration and development. ARGeo aims to accelerate geothermal energy investments in both public and private sector. The utilization of the resource in agriculture and industry will also be promoted. |