Government energy experts, scientists, engineers and members of the private sector, Friday set a "challenging yet achievable target" to develop 1,000 megawatts (MW) of geothermal across eastern Africa by 2020, to serve electricity needs of several million people in the region, the statement said.

"In total, Africa has a potential of up to 7,000 MW of untapped geothermal energy resources," the statement said

"Geothermal, which harnesses steam from hot rocks deep in the earth's crust, is a highly promising form of renewable energy, but its potential in eastern Africa's Rift Valley region has until now remained largely untapped," it said.

Kenya, which has pioneered geothermal energy in the region, currently generates 45 MW of electricity from geothermal.

"Geothermal power has proved very reliable and Kenya has used it for power generation for 22 years at greater than 97 percent availability," the delegates declared in a final communique at the end of the conference, part of UNEP's Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The experts emphasized that geothermal energy was clean and, unlike hydro-electricity, was not vulnerable to droughts and not prone to unpredictable price fluctuations like in oil-fired power generation.

The delegates pledged to share expertise, bundle together national geothermal initiatives to reduce development costs, promote public-private partnerships to accelerate geothermal development in the region and lobby donor governments and agencies for increased geothermal financing.

The conference was attended by delegates from Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

SPACE.WIRE