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Following the signing of a bilateral relation
agreement between Ethiopia and Iceland on January
2008 to explore geothermal power potential in the
rift valley region, a team of experts from Reykjavik
are to engage in a bilateral geothermal survey.
It would be too early to talk about the project
cost, said Sendeku Araya, public relations division
Head at the Ethiopian Telecommunications
Corporations (EEPCo).
“Ethiopia has an estimated potential of 1000mw of
power from geothermal energy located in the rift
region,” ambassador Svavar Gestsson, especial envoy
to the ministry of foreign affairs, told Fortune.
He said the exact potential would be known after the
actual study is conducted.
The preliminary agreement between Ethiopia and
Iceland is expected to be reached in a month time,
according to the ambassador.
Iceland’s
Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism Osur
Scarper Dinson (PhD) visited Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi on April 11, 2008 and agreed on the technical
support that Ethiopia could get from the geothermal
energy production.
The feasibility study has to be carried out first,
though a prior study conducted by Ethiopian
Geological Survey hinted that geothermal
possibilities have already been detected in Afar, in
the Fentale and Aluto Langano areas of the rift
region.
“If the project starts as scheduled, it would be
completed in three years as the country is using
fast-track approach,” Alemayehu Tegenu minister of
Mines and Energy (MoME) told Fortune.
The fast-track approach is extending the working
hours to 24 a day from the normal eight hours of
operation.
The experts coming from Iceland will give technical
assistance to Ethiopia, including maintenance of
obsolete drilling plants at EGS, according to
Alemayehu Tegenu.
Iceland is also searching for geothermal sources in
Djibouti, where the feasibility was completed with
the whole project expected to be ended by 2011. The
potential there was discovered to be 50 mw.
Iceland, which has many years of experience using
geothermal energy, gets about 27pc of its power from
geothermal sources, which is renewable, clean and
environment friendly, according to energy experts.
The project will be executed by the Ethiopian
Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) with the support
of the Ethiopian Geological Survey (EGS), which is
equipped with drilling plants.
Geothermal drilling requires digging three
kilometres down.
Ethiopia has the largest portion of the rift system
that stretches 1500kms, and the potential of
geothermal power is expected to be even more than
previously thought, according to the minister.
The current utilization of geothermal energy in the
country is around 17mw.
The government of the United Nations and government
of Iceland recently trained twenty three Ethiopian
engineers for six months in Iceland, covering most
aspects of geothermal exploration and sustainable
development.
Iceland is one of the leading countries in the world
in terms of geothermal energy use. Iceland generates
nearly all of its electricity from renewable
sources: about 73pc from hydropower and virtually
the remainder from geothermal power. Geothermal
sources are also used to heat 87pc of the households
in Iceland.
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