Budding Geothermal Markets Light Up East Africa Leslie Blodgett,...

Budding Geothermal Markets Light Up East Africa
Leslie Blodgett, GEA
03 July 2012

Africa represents an important new opportunity for U.S. geothermal firms. While Africa has had its economic problems, it has seen strong economic growth over the past decade. Real GDP has been growing at roughly 5 percent annually, making the continent among the world’s fastest growing regions. This has been due at least in part to government efforts to diversify economies, spur employment, and encourage industrialization — all presenting a rising need for reliable electric power.

“The apparent competitive appetite of the national development in the region, targets a GDP growth rate of 10 percent starting 2012, with electricity demand to grow in tandem through the Vision 2030 initiative. Geothermal energy is also produced in Ethiopia, and other countries are increasingly interested. Together, supportive government policies along with high-grade, largely untapped geothermal resources spell economic opportunity.

About 217 MW of geothermal energy have been developed and made available to communities on the African Continent, where energy is more expensive and less available than anywhere else in the world. Most of this capacity, or about 202 MW, is in Kenya, which has three power plants (Olkaria 1, 2, and 3) operated by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and Ormat Technologies.