The tiny East African countries of Rwanda, Djibouti and the Union of Comoros have joined the African league of geothermal power producers, in a field still dominated by Kenya after applying and getting funding to commence surface studies and drilling operations from the US $115 Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) fund, which is administered by the African Union (AU).
Alongside Kenya and Ethiopia, the countries have jointly won a US $36.7 million funding for a total of seven different projects at an evaluation meeting convened at AU headquarters in Ethiopia on June 17, and being part of third round of funding applications from the GRMF established in 2012.
Rwanda, through its state Energy Development Corporation Ltd., and Comoros, through state company Bureau Géologique des Comores, received funding for drilling, while Djibouti government corporation L’Office Djiboutien de développement de l'Energie Géothermique won funding for surface studies.
