Rwanda:

Unlocking the Potential of Geothermal Energy in Rwanda (Imperial College News)

Postgraduate student Leo Peskett, Basu Civil Engineering Prize winner, talks about his summer field trip to Rwanda to investigate geothermal energy.

Whilst in Rwanda he became aware of the potential of geothermal energy in the country’s Virunga Mountains, which is actually a series of dormant volcanoes sitting on the edge of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, where two tectonic plates are slowly being pulled apart. This type of geothermal energy basically involves drilling deep into volcanically active regions with the aim of finding groundwater at high temperatures and pressures that can be used to produce steam to drive turbines.

The international community is providing funding for additional exploratory boreholes, but there is a need to better hone the geological model of the area to increase the likelihood of success. And that’s where Leo saw an opportunity to make a contribution.

His first job out in Rwanda was to access recent survey data that was not available online and stored in the capital Kigali, particularly on the recent drilling program. Given that he still had some government contacts in Kigali from his previous work there, Leo was able to obtain and analyse these records.

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