News

Ethiopian project receives up to $5.6 million from Geothermal Risk Mitigation Fund

Ethiopian project receives up to $5.6 million from Geothermal Risk Mitigation Fund Corbetti Caldera, Ethiopia (source: Reykjavik Geothermal)
Alexander Richter 5 Feb 2014

Development company Reykjavik Geothermal receives grant of $5.6 million from the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) for initial drilling at the company's Corbetti project in the South of Ethiopia in East Africa.

Developer Reykjavik Geothermal has announced it has received $5.6 million for the work on its first stage of its Corbetti geothermal power project in the South of Ethiopia, Africa.

In the fall of last year, the company announced having signed an agreement with the country of Ethiopia for the development of geothermal power projects of up to 1,000 MW in power generation capacity.

The funding received now comes from the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) that has been set up by the African Union, the EU Development Fund for Africa and the German Development Agency in cooperation with German development bank KfW.

“The GRMF was set up to encourage public and private investors as well as public private partnerships to develop geothermal prospects for power generation in Eastern Africa by providing grants for surface studies, exploration drilling and the drilling and testing of reservoir confirmation wells.”

It thereby provides financial support to assist in mitigating the geothermal exploration risk. The initial funding now received by Reykjavik Geothermal could likely double going forward.

The project of Reykjavik Geohtermal is developed in cooperation with international investors with a planned two development stages of 500 MW with an estimated overall investment of  around $4 billion.

 

The grant provided by GRMF is expected to cover at least 40% of the first wells to be drilled by the company in Ethiopia, so the company spokesperson.

Source: Visir.is