Kenyan Ambassador to address Geothermal Finance Forum in New York

View from the Marriott Marquis' 42 floor, New York (source: flickr/ JefferyTurner, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 26 Mar 2013

The U.S. Geothermal Energy Association announces that the Kenyan Ambassador to the United States will speak at the upcoming Geothermal Energy Finance Forum in New York. Ambassador Elkhana Odembo will speak as a keynote speaker for the and join Rohit Khanna, program manager of the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, in delivering keynote remarks at the event, to be held on April 11 at the Marriott Marquis New York.

Currently, only 16 percent of Kenyans have access to electricity, but the government plans to leverage the abundant geothermal resources beneath Kenyan’s share of East Africa ‘s Rift Valley to raise that number. Geothermal already delivers about 13 percent of Kenya ‘s electricity, with the goal to increase that proportion to 30 percent by 2020.

GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell remarked: “Ambassador Odembo represents a country that is working in sync with organizations like the World Bank to fulfill its electricity needs with clean and renewable geothermal energy. We are excited to welcome him as a keynote speaker and look forward to his insights on how U.S. geothermal companies and the New York finance community can help to make electricity more accessible to the people of Kenya and East Africa.”

Discussions at the Finance Forum will focus on issues such as geothermal project finance in the United States and abroad, geothermal project risk, and a worldwide geothermal development update. The global geothermal market is on the upswing in 2013, and recent reports show an estimated 18.6 GW of geothermal power currently in development across 70 countries, accounting for $100 billion in investment. Much of this development is being spearheaded by American companies, a number of whom will be represented at the event.

In addition to the United States and Kenya, a number of leading geothermal markets will also be represented at the Finance Forum, including Angola, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Rwanda and Uganda.

As the U.S. and nations around the world look to replace fossil fuels to minimize the threat of global warming, geothermal power will grow in its value and importance in the years ahead. Geothermal can provide both firm and flexible power. It can bring the reliability of 24/7 baseload power or complement other energy technologies by firming up more intermittent power generation. It can also provide power for small co-production projects to large utility scale power plants.

For a complete schedule or to register for the International Geothermal Energy Finance Forum, please visit http://geo-energy.org/events/International_GE_Finance_Forum_Apr_11_2013.aspx.