ADDIS ABABA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) and partners have mobilized 150 million dollars for geothermal development in East African nations.
The figure was provided by Rashid Ali Abdallah, Principal Energy officer at the Department of Infrastructure and Energy of the AU at a press conference on Sunday at the sidelines of the ongoing 29th African Union Ordinary Summit from June 27-July 4 in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya are the countries that are initially targeted with the funds from geothermal energy which is known for being a high financial risk in early exploration but very reliable energy source once built.
East Africa alone has up to 20,000 mega watts (MV) of geothermal potential, but Africa in total has 500 MW of installed geothermal energy capacity, with most concentrated in Kenya," said Abdallah.
So far 87 million dollars of 150 million dollars fund for geothermal energy has been disbursed to the targeted nations, with the project aiming to help nations eventually be able to generate up to 2,000 MW of geothermal energy.
