The main challenges for development of geothermal resources in the East African Rift System include: (i) inadequate policy and regulatory framework to attract investments; (ii) large upfront cost of geothermal resource exploration and development; and (iii) risks in resource “exploration” and “power development”.
The projects in Annex III, are pre-qualified to submit full application for the Fifth Application Round:
I wish to note that the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility Program remains one of the successful projects in the Commission, despite the challenges mentioned above. Much progress continues to be made by the developers in preparing their GMRF grant applications and in complying with the GRMF requirements.
The Commission will continue to work with development partners to improve the capacity and expertise of interested Member States and mobilize more financial resources to meet the increased interest in geothermal energy development as witnessed by the growing number of projects that are submitted for grant awards. It is critical that Member States put in place the appropriate institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks, in order to attract more private investors and allocate adequate resources to the Commission for the expansion of this Programme to other AU countries.
