| Title | Geothermal Development Status in Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Authors | Teka Nigussie Gebru |
| Year | 2023 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Rift valley, Aluto Langano, Geothermal Energy, renewable Energy |
| Abstract | Ethiopia, among the Horn of Africa located between 3.5° and 14°N and 33° and 48°E, is endowed with huge renewable energy resources, namely hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. The bulk majority of the people as yet have no access to electricity and over 90% of the energy consumption is based on biomass which forces the felling of trees for firewood, accelerating impacts such as deforestation, soil erosion and the loss of wildlife. Ethiopia has currently more than 4.3 GW of installed power generation capacity produce all from renewables and 89 MW of diesel power generation. 3,817 MW of electricity is produced from hydro installations, 324 MW from wind, 7 MW is geothermal energy and 25 MW from Waste to Energy. The aim of the document is to present the status of Geothermal development in Ethiopia both for electricity and direct use applications. Ethiopia has the longest section of the East African Rift Valley which boasts an estimated geothermal potential of 10,000 MW. To date, only one geothermal power plant, i.e Aluto Langano power plant, 7.3 MWe, has been developed and however currently not functional since 2010, because of several challenges due to shortage of skilled man power to monitor and maintain the plant properly. At present, Aluto Langano expansion project, Tulu Moye project and Corbetti projects are on their phase of drilling operations while other prospects are on their early phase of exploration. A feasibility and appraisal study to expand Aluto Langano field to 75 MW by drilling of appraisal and production wells has been conducted in 2010 and 2015 respectively with the assistance of the Japanese government. Out of the 24 geothermal prospects identified, more than 90% of them are leased to independent power producers (IPPs) for a long term development. Geothermal utilization in Ethiopia is not only for electricity generation but also for direct use applications like hot spa services and tourism industry as well as salt production.Geothermal utilization in Ethiopia goes back to one century when Emperor Minilik and his spouse princes Taytu was on power who ruled Ethiopia for about tripple decades.Princes Taytu built the hot spa for the royal family at that time which currently this hot spa switched to public spa with its name called „Fil Wuha“ a local language which means hot spring water. In 2016, a proclamation for Geothermal energy development known as Geothermal Resources Development Proclamation No. 981/2016 was a pproved and consecutively in 2018, a proclamation that manages Power purchase Agreement (PPA) with private electricity producers was enacted. |