The African Union Commission (AUC) said it has received a US$6mn grant from Africa Geothermal International Limited (AGIL) to drill two geothermal reservoir wells in Kenya
According to newspaper Business Day, the project-finance agreement was signed by AUC’s Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr Elham Ibrahim and AGIL chief executive officer Fassine Fofana.
This grant will add to the AUC’s Geothermal Risk Mitigation Fund (GRMF) that was established to co-finance surface studies and for drilling projects aimed at developing indigenous and renewable energy resource for power generation within the east African region.
The AUC has been developing the geothermal projects in Kenya along with some European partners. Managers of GRMF said that based on the high levels of interest for these projects, the programme, which originally targeted five countries of the region (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda), has now been extended to include 11 countries.
AGIL is a private geothermal producer with a licence to operate on a 132 km area around Mount Longonot near Nairobi, Kenya.
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