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Tanzania to start geothermal exploration at Lake Ngozi in 2013

Tanzania to start geothermal exploration at Lake Ngozi in 2013 Lake Ngozi, Mbeya, Tanzania (source: flickr/ Sara&Joachim, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 22 Oct 2012

Next year, the country of Tanzania is planning to start exploration for geothermal power generation at Lake Ngozi in the Mbeya region in the country, and looks at further exploration in other parts of the country after that.

Local news report that the country of Tanzania will start exploring geothermal power along Lake Ngozi in Mbeya region next year. The country is facing a growing demand for electricity and is determined to decrease its use of non-renewable energy sources.

Ngozi is the second largest Crater Lake in Africa, located roughly 15 kilometres southeast of Mbeya City in the Mporoto Ridge Forest Reserve.

Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo said earlier that investigation show that heat on the top of the lake is about 200 degrees centigrade.

“This gives us hope that after drilling, the temperature will be high enough to produce electricity,” the minister told a packed press conference in Arusha over the weekend.

The exploration at Lake Ngozi in Mbeya is only a first step and the country expects to explore geothermal development options in potential areas across the country after that.

Tanzania lies, as does Kenya, in the East Africa’s Rift Valley: “a giant trench stretching 6,000 km from the Red Sea to Mozambique, where two tectonic plates are slowly drifting apart.”

Source: IPP Media