Ethiopia's Untapped Potential of Geothermal Energy

Historically, geothermal development begun in the early seventies and continued during the eighties and nineties leading to surface investigations, wells and test drilling in selected sites. The government established the first pilot plant in 1998, the expansion of which begun two years later. Four other sites were licensed for exploration by a private firm. Currently, after hydropower, geothermal is the next optimum resource to be developed. Challenges and weaknesses in developing geothermal project are the large financial requirement, resource and other risks.

The project also faces long gestation period, taking longer maturity period between its inception, study, approval, funding and actual implementation and output distribution. Other factors such as lack of institutional capacity and shortage of professional skills, including scientific, technical, commercial, legal ones seriously affect project implementation. Unforeseen legal and regulatory framework may be detrimental to smooth project operations. During the inception of geothermal project, several unpredictable factors are assumed to hamper the project execution at a later stage.

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