Tanzania:

Tanzania Can Harvest 5000 MW of Geothermal Energy (Daily News)

Ngorongoro Crater

Tanzania accounts for nearly 10 per cent of the total geothermal potential found across the African continent, though the country is yet to start harvesting the ground heat energy.

The Vice-President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, speaking at the 5th African Rift Geothermal Conference said that Tanzania alone has a potential of more than 5,000 MW of geothermal energy out of the 40,000 MW available within the African Rift Valley.

“This calls for speeding up of our geothermal development strategies to tap this huge potential and contribute to timely attainment of our energy development targets,” the VP added.

The whole of the East African Rift Valley is also said to be home to 20,000 MW of geothermal energy. Dr Bilal said the government has specific targets in the energy sector including stepping up the electricity generation capacity from the current 1,480 MW to over 2,780 MW by next year (2015).

But with the proposed tapping of the 5,000 MW of geothermal power lurking beneath the earth, the country is set to meet all the energy needs within its borders and even sell surplus elsewhere.

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