Kenya has revealed plans to partner with Tanzania for production of geothermal power in an attempt to increase energy production in the East African region
A delegation of senior government officials and members of Tanzania’s parliamentary committee on energy and mining recently discussed geothermal energy developments in Kenya with the aim of understanding capacity building, licensing and how to attract investors for the partnership.
Tanzania, which has the longest rift stretch in eastern Africa, has about 52 identified sites with geothermal potential of 650MW that have not been fully exploited.
Tanzania’s parliamentary committee chairman of energy and mining Victor Mwambalaswa noted that geothermal power production in Kenya has been successful in the past four years and added that the same could be replicated in Tanzania to help in faster development of the resource.
Mwambalaswa said, “During our discussions, we have been impressed by what Kenya has done in the past four years and we have discussed what is going to suit both partners.”
Tanzania’s commissioner for energy and petroleum affairs Hosea Mbise said the exploited energy in Tanzania is about 600MW, which has been low considering that the demand of the resource was about 900MW.
To kick off the project, the African Development Bank will sponsor a few experts from Tanzania to train on geothermal science.
