FUTURE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY THROUGH LOCAL COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: LEARNING FROM THE MAORI’S EXPERIENCE

The East African Rift Valley (EARV), extending from Eritrea in the North to Mozambique in the South is one of the key regions in the world for potential geothermal energy development. The region is still at an early stage in regards to geothermal development, with the first plants having operated for a few tens of years and others just recently commencing to produce, resulting in a total production of a few hundred MWe. Important perspectives should be drawn for the future given that production figures of several tens of thousands of MWe are being projected. Essentially based on large size plants answering the needs of the inter-connected electric network, the current development approach raises the question of relations with local communities living around geothermal sites targeted for development. Worth noting, is also the fact that due to the geological characteristics of the EARV, the geothermal resources are located in low lands along the floor of the Rift Valley and Afar depression, which are areas of low altitude where the climate is generally drier and inhabited by various pastoralist communities that have adapted to the arid conditions. These communities include the Maasai in Central and Southern Kenya as well as in Northern Tanzania, the Pokot in Northern Kenya and the Afar in North Eastern Ethiopia, in Eritrea and in Djibouti. In the current geothermal development approach, the social issue is treated in terms of compensation, with the local communities being consulted after project design and implementation decisions have been made; and with the ultimate aim of the consultation at this late stage, being to eventually compensate the local community for the negative impact the project causes to their day to day social and economic lives. This paper aims at recommending revisions to this current approach, by proposing that local communities should not just be viewed as subjects of project impacts, but as key actors of geothermal development. This also implies considerations that these natural resources found on their land are already generally well-known and being appropriated by the community members for various applications (such as water production by steam condensation, therapy, cultural practices, etc.). In the frame of ongoing research, a procedure is being tested in which the interests of local communities are taken into account at the earliest stages of project conception (i,e. reconnaissance and pre-feasibility). The proposed approach entails enhancing local communities’ knowledge regarding geological resources as well as types of possible uses that could be considered to respond to their socio-economic needs. Taking into account the traditional roles within these local communities, gender considerations appear to be particularly pertinent. To this respect, existing experience of participation of local communities in geothermal energy development in other parts of the world provides references that can be of relevance and interest along Onyango, Varet, Maori, ARGeo C6, 2016 2 the EARV. For instance, the case of the Kawerau Geothermal Power Plant in the Bay of Plenty Region (New Zealand) is an example, among several others, of a case that has been extensively studied in this regard. Completed in 2008 at a cost of NZ$300M, this 100MWe is the largest single generator geothermal plant in New Zealand. Besides power generation, it also supplies process steam to a large pulp and paper mill. Important to note is the fact that: This plant is owned by a Maori Trust (the Maori being an indigenous group of New Zealand that settled there in the 1300’s, long before the British colonisation). Presently, there are at least five Maori Trusts owning geothermal plants of various sizes and types, including a touristic “Geothermal Village”. This situation has been the result of a long and significant process. The process involved among other things policy change, attending to historical injustices around land issues and a genuine political will to meaningfully engage the local community in addressing their long-term socio-economic interests. This paper analyses the case as an example of a process of community-based geothermal development that could inspire the equally indigenous local populations along the EARV.