Reykjavik Geothermal (RG), a power developer backed by hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II, is about to kick off a $4.4 billion project to bring volcanic energy to Ethiopia.
Tapping long-built Icelandic expertise in channeling volcanic power, the developer is preparing to start exploration drilling in September for two 500-megawatt plants in Corbetti and Tulu Moye, south of the capital Addis Ababa. At full-scale, each project would become the largest independent power producer in Africa, according to RG.
The Reykjavik-based company’s exploration teams have picked spots to drill where they can see steam rising from the ground. “All the results from the surface exploration work indicate that we are developing projects in a huge caldera, huge active volcanoes which can sustain at least 1,000 megawatts or more,” Gunnar Orn Gunnarsson, RG’s chief operating officer, said in an interview in Reykjavik.
From the Global Geothermal News archives:
- Monday, October 29, 2018 - Ethiopia: Contract Signed to Develop 50 MW Tulu Moye Geothermal Power Plant
- Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - Ethiopia: 520 MW Tulu Moye Geothermal Project Moves Ahead
- Friday, August 24, 2018 - Ethiopia: USTDA to Support Development of First 50 MW at Tulu Moye Geothermal Project
- Wednesday, December 2, 2015 - Ethiopia: Reykjavík Geothermal Awarded $1 Million for Exploration at Tulu-Moye Geothermal Prospect
