STATUS OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PROJECTS IN TANZANIA

Transcription

1 STATUS OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PROJECTS IN TANZANIA Regional Geothermal Stakeholders Workshop for East African Rift System Countries and Partners March 2010 Nairobi - Kenya Gabriel Mbogoni (Geologist-GST) Erasto Simon (Geologist-Energy) Ministry of Energy and Minerals-MEM

2 Introduction: Tanzania has a total area of about 945,000 sq.km with population of around 40 million people according to the census of 2002 and estimations of Tanzania has a total insatalled capacity of 1200Mw of which 560Mw generated from hydro, 340Mw from natura gas, 200Mw from private and government thermal plants, and 100Mw from co-generation, Only 14% of the population has access to the electricity, Search for Geothermal resources in Tanzania started in 1975(SWECO through SIDA Project-1976/79, UNDP- 1983, First Energy Co. Ltd 1997/2004,DECON 2004/2005, Regional Consultant For Geothermal Energy In East Africa: 2004/2005),

3 Introduction. Most of the research were basically surface investigations which indicated that there are about 50 geothermal prospects in the country, The most prospective sites are:- Rungwe Volcanic area in Mbeya region, Rukwa trough, Luhoi in Rufiji basin, Pangani fault area and Lake Natron area in north-eastern Tanzania, Tanzania is estimated to have about 650MWe of untapped geothermal potential,

4 Geothermal Prospect areas: Rungwe volcanic complex (at triple junction) Rukwa trough on the western rift Lake Natron, Manyara and Eyasi on Eastern Rift Rufiji Trough on Eastern coast Pangani fault Others

5 Mbeya geothermal project: The Government initiatives in Geothermal Project was launched in 2006 under Technical Cooperation with the Germany government through the Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources of Germany, The project is titled Geothermal Energy as an alternative source of Energy for Tanzania. The objective was to carry out surface exploration, The 1 st phase was concluded in January 2009, where the following activities were performed:- Geophysical Measurements (TEM & MT), Geochemical Measurements, and Surface Geological Investigations,

6 Findings- Phase I: Existence of two geothermal systems:- Northern system Comprise of Songwe and other hot springs related to Ngozi volcano with calculated reservoir temperature >200ºc, Southern System Related to Rungwe and Kiejo Volcanoes with calculated reservoir temperature < 200ºc, The prospect is located within the Rift System associated with active faults and Volcanic centres which are the source of heat for the systems, Despite that the subsurface nature and characteristics is yet to be known, the surface data collected so far warrant for detailed approach towards discovery of the proper location of the geothermal resources,

7 Future Plan: It is envisaged to begin Phase II in June 2010, Preparations and work planning has been completed, Phase II shall include the following activities:- Combined interpretation of multidisciplinary data (integrated approach), Conduct more geophysical measurements (MT & TEM) for additional data to locate the reservoir, Conduct more geochemical measurements (e.g. isotope determination of fluids sources, gases, and reservoir characterizations ), Continue with surface geological investigations to locate and analyze more surface manifestations, Shallow borehole drilling for temperature gradient measurements, Geothermal awareness campaign (public, communities and decision makers),

8 Drawbacks: Financial constraints, lack of funds for geothermal project, Inadequate skilled manpower in the field of geothermal, Inadequate equipments and instruments for the assessment of geothermal resources, Lack of awareness in the communities and decision makers,

9 Conclusion: Tanzania is one of the several countries that are favoured of being situated within the East African Rift. The rift provides countries connected to it with a high geothermal gradient and a number of hot spots that are suitable for development of power generation, The government is encouraging investiment in this sector to expand the power generating capacity by developing the indigenous energy sources, We urge the International Organisations and Donor Countries to continue supporting the development of this clean energy sector in African countries through technical and financial aspects, Tanzania strongly supports the regional efforts and cooperation to strengthern the efforts of the individual countries by sharing the available resources, equipment, experts and other facilities within the region,

10 Asante Sana