East Africa Community (EAC) state Tanzania is on the verge of enriching its electricity potential with another geothermal project. The country, however, has experienced a setback due to unavailability to access enough funds for the project.
In response to the weight on the government shoulders, the EAC state will be receiving close to $21.7 million in terms of loans and grants, courtesy of Climate Investment Funds (CIF). The deal will set a pace for the sub-Saharan nation that anticipates to implement the geothermal project with 100-MW.
Located in the Ngozi geothermal steam field, the activities include exploratory test drilling and installation of the required steam gathering infrastructure.
Once operational, the plant will be producing up to 823 GWh per year on the grid, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said. Thus it will reduce energy imports and boost Tanzania’s energy security.
The project is backed by CIF’s Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) and will receive $5 million in the form of a loan and $16.73 million in grant resources to be implemented by AfDB.
Even though the country is still fighting poverty and an under-developed energy sector, heavily dependent on fossil-based and hydropower plants, it has around 15 geothermal sites with an untapped estimated potential of 650 MW, AfDb noted.
