Successful workshop on drilling rules and regulations, Naivasha, Kenya
At Lake Naivasha, Kenya (source: flickr/ amirjina, creative commons)
Francisco Rojas
27 May 2014
The AUC has organised a three day workshop in Kenya in order to introduce new regulatory schemes that can assist in the geothermal sector. In order to do so, key individuals (NZ, USA) from this sector have been invited to take part.
According to the website, The African Union Commission (AUC) through the Department of Infrastructure and Energy and the German Geological Survey (BGR) on May 13th to 15th organized a three day workshop in Naivasha, Kenya, for high ranking decision-makers of regulatory agencies from Djibouti, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. The workshop included a field trip to on-going drilling operations of Kenya’s Geothermal Development Company (GDC) and the Kenya Electricity Generating Company Ltd (KenGen) at Menengai and Olkaria.
The objective was to introduce existing regulatory schemes for geothermal drilling now in place in the United States and New Zealand, and to present perspectives on drilling regulation related to testing, safety and private sector developers. Lecturers from New Zealand, Canada, and the United States familiarised African policy makers and regulatory officials with the need for geothermal drilling rules and regulations designed to protect health, life and the environment
Drilling rules and regulations generally also play yet another significant role and that is to ensure that data obtained from drilling and testing activities is fully captured by the appropriate government agency as part of their ongoing responsibility to fully obtain and catalogue all relevant resource information. Without comprehensive geothermal drilling rules and regulations in place, there is little assurance that this data will be obtained and made part of the national data base.
The same source also mentioned that the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) of AUC supports the development of geothermal resources surface studies and exploration drilling for geothermal developments in East Africa through grants. The GRMF is part of the Regional Geothermal Program (RGP) of the AUC, which includes 15 countries along the East African Rift System (EARS). The RGP is also active in the policy advisory sector and in capacity-building measures for members of energy and mining ministries of the EARS countries. Following recent discussions and evaluations, the AUC expects the GRMF will provide grants to projects in eight countries (Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda) within the next five to seven years.
Source: Your Oil and Gas News Website
