ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News

Successful Collaboration Meeting for Geothermal Development in East Africa

The Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facilty (GRMF), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW) hosted in late August a successful Collaboration Meeting for Geothermal Development in Eastern Africa” in Hamburg/ Germany.

The Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facilty (GRMF), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW) hosted a Collaboration Meeting for Geothermal Development in Eastern Africa” on August 29, 2012 in Hamburg/ Germany.

“The meeting was organised by Pöyry Deutschland GmbH, Hamburg at whose facilities the meeting was held. The meeting aims at promoting coordination among the major players working to facilitate geothermal developments in East Africa.

Attendees of the Collaboration Meeting were representatives of African Development Bank (AfDB), German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK, EU Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA), Ministry for Foreign Affairs Island, United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The World Bank in addition to representatives of the hosts (AUC and KfW and their Technical Consultant for the GRMF).

The main objectives were to understand the different programmes of the institutions active in geothermal development in Eastern Africa, to identify the potential synergy effects between those programmes and to discuss possibilities for a cohesive programme under the leadership of the African Union Commission.

The outcome of the meeting was a great success as participants got a mutual understanding of the status of geothermal development in Eastern Africa which paves the way for fruitful collaboration. As a result of the open and constructive discussion, it was agreed to perform annual meetings to promote cooperation further and to take advantage of synergy effects in order to overcome obstacles of geothermal development in Eastern Africa. The progress should be coordinated by the AUC who was mandated by the Energy Ministers of the Eastern Africa countries in the context of the Regional Geothermal Programme. In addition, the AUC has, with GRMF, a strong instrument to boost geothermal development in Eastern Africa.

A discussed task was as well the lack of synchronised rules and regulation of the different countries. The GRMF stakeholder meeting in October 2012 in Addis Ababa could be a very good platform to discuss the requirements with the stakeholders and donors.”

Source: Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility for Eastern Africa

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