Japan to back geothermal projects in East Africa - report

May 30, 2013 - The government of Japan intends to support the development of geothermal energy in East Africa, the Nikkei said today.

According to the daily, which did not disclose its sources, the Japan International Cooperation Agency will offer technical assistance to Kenya from September, supporting the country's plan to boost its geothermal capacity to 5 GW in 20 years from 200 MW at present.

In addition, Japan intends to send geological survey missions to some East African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, and create a development plan for Ethiopia.

Japan's plans to aid the construction of geothermal facilities in East Asia will be added to a list of development assistance measures for Africa at a conference in Yokohama, to be held at the beginning of June, the Nikkei said.

Recently, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) published a White Paper in which it explains how a global geothermal exploration drilling fund of USD 500 million (EUR 386m) can solve the sector’s key issue - capital raising, and result in some 2,400 MW of new geothermal capacity. According to BNEF data, to date only 6% of the planet’s geothermal potential has been realised. BNEF lead geothermal analyst and co-author of the report Mark Taylor noted that a global fund would be particularly helpful exactly to project developers in developing countries.

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