IGA NEWS1

I GA New s No. 77

New slet t er of t he I nt ernat ional Geot herm al Association
Quart erly No. 77

IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the President
Ladsi Rybach
Dear IGA member
This is the seventh message from your current
President.
In my function as IGA President, I am frequently
invited to presentations, keynote lectures and the like.
Since my last message such an appearance took place in
Addis Ababa/Ethiopia at the “Decision Makers’
Workshop on Geother mal Energ y”. The three-day
workshop was organized by the ICS-UNIDO withsponsorship of the African Union Commission (AUC), theEthiopian Government, the IGA, and the BGR of
Germany. The workshop was held at the Africa Hall at theUnited Nations Conference Centre (UNECA) in Addis
Ababa from 8 to 10 June. Many high level officials
attended; at the end of the workshop the African Energy
Ministers issued “The Addis Ababa Declaration on
Geothermal Energy in East African Region”. For further
details see the report of Martin M. Mwangi in this issue of
IGA News.
In my last message I mentioned the joint IEA GIAIGA Workshop “Geother mal Energ y - Its Global
Development Potential & Contribution to Mitigation of
Climate Change”, that took place in Madrid/Spain on 5-6
May. The numerous presentations at this successful
workshop can now be found on the IEA GIA website
www.iea-gia.org under “Activities & Achievements”.
In addition to the information contained in my last
message I would like to add the following remarks relating
to the IGA Committee meetings and the 47th IGA BoD
meeting in Madrid:• The BoD approved the affiliation contracts between
IGA and the following organizations: ESGA (El
Salvador Geother mal Association), GtV(Geothermische Vereinung e. V., Germany), INAGA(Indonesian Geother mal Association), NGAP
(National Geothermal Association of the Philippines),
and TGA (Turkish Geothermal Association) ;• The BoD authorized the Executive Director toestablish an IGA Foundation Account for the purposesof allowing both Individual and Corporate
membership affiliates and others to make voluntary
monetary contributions for the long term benefit of
the IGA;w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

Contents

IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the President

1

EUROPE/ European Technology Platform (ETP)
Renewable Heating & Cooling Geothermal Panel
4
5/ CLUSTHERM project6
Iceland / IDDP drills into magma at Krafla
Switzerland/ A new Master in Hydrogeology andGeothermics
6
UK/ Revisiting deep geothermal in the United
7
Kingdom
OCEANIA
Australia/ Australian Federal Government’s
Geothermal Drilling Program,Round 2 funding

11

ASIA/PACIFIC RIM
China / Geothermal district heating project being
implemented in Yanqing county of Beijing
12
Philippines/ EDC takes over Mindanao
power plants
13
AFRICA/The Addis Ababa Declaration on Geothermal
14
Energy in East African Region
Kenya / Kenya´s new Geothermal Development
Company to fast-track geothermal resource
assessment and development
16
Tanzania/Geothermal energy resources - Tanzania
UPCOMING EVENTS
Geothermal meetings

2• The BoD decided that the second next BoD meetingand the 2010 Annual General meeting will be held in
Bali/Indonesia, in conjunction with WGC2010.
According to the preliminary schedule the committee
meetings will be held on Saturday 24 April and theBoard meeting on Sunday 25 April 2010. The exact
date for the AGM will be decided later.
The new IGA website is now nearing completion. An
important link leads to the IGA Conference Data Base;the following additional Conference Proceedings have

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recently been uploaded: (1) Workshop on Geological Risk
Insurance, Karlsruhe/Germany, 11-12 November 2008,( 2 ) Pe t r o l e u m E n g i n e e r i n g S u m m e r S c h o o l ,Dubrovnik/Croatia, 9-13 June 2008 and (3) Stanford
Geothermal Workshop 2008 and 2009. The total count of
papers in the IGA conference database is now 5569.
Regarding the World Bank - IGA contract, the contract
period ended on 30 December 2008. Of the 11 projects in
the IGA-GeoFund work program, 8 were completed
before that time. Two projects were extended by one year
and one project was cancelled. Negotiations for a newcontract with the World Bank, especially in the fields of
GeoFund and ARGEO, are underway. As a preparatory
step, IGA Services Co., Ltd. was established on 18 June in
Cologne/Germany.
IGA currently has 24 Corporate and 4 Institutional
members. The membership fees are US$ 300 in the case of
for-profit Corporate members and US$ 750 for the nonprofit Institutional members. Discussions are ongoing
within the Membership and Bylaws Committees about
whether the fee amounts should be changed.
The preparations for WGC2010 are on track. The
Conference website www.wgc2010.org is periodically
updated; the booklets for Sponsors and Exhibitors havebeen printed and are being distributed. Conference
registration is now open; “Early Bird” deadline is 30
November. In particular, I would like to invite you all tohave a look at the various pre- or post-conference tour
options: there are some unique opportunities! Nearly 1000
draft papers have been submitted. They are now in thereview process; the authors will be notified by 30
September. Deadline for final papers is 31 October.
The next IGA Committee meetings are scheduled for
28 October, the 48th IGA BoD meeting and the IGA
Annual General Meeting 2009 for 28 or 29 October, totake place in the city of Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador. A
one-day Geothermal Workshop is scheduled for 30
October in Santa Tecla and a field trip on 31 October tothe Berlin geothermal field.
I look forward to continuing to work with all of you in
our joint effort to promote geothermal and thank you foryour support.
Zurich, 22 July 2009
Ladsi Rybach

UPCOMING EVENTSInter national Workshop “Geother mal Energ yDevelopment, Opportunities and Challenges”, 3-4September 2009, Pomarance, Tuscany, Italy. Website:www.cegl.it. Contact: Gherardini.s@cegl.it
WPRB, IGA/GCES Joint Geothermal Workshop,
Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 19-22 September 2009. Check
the IGA website www.geothermal-energy.org
RENEXPO 2009, Augburg, Germany, 24-27 September
2009. Website: www.renexpo.deGRC 2009 Annual Meeting, Reno, NV, USA, 4-7
October 2009. Website: www.geothermal.org
Renewable E nerg y World A s ia C onference &Exhibition 2009, 7-9 October 2009, Bangkok, Thailand.
Website: www.renewableenergyworld-asia.com
Renewable Energy Indonesia 2009 Trade Show, 14-17
O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 , Ja k a r t a , I n d o n e s i a . We b s i t e :http://www.allworldexhibitions.com/images/shows/2009
0174_Renewable Energy 2009 Brochure.pdf
2009 GSA Annual Meeting-Session T32 “Survey ofInternational Geothermal Development 2009", 18-21
October 2009, Por tland, Oreg on, USA. Website:www.geosociety.org/meetings/2009/
GTR-H: International Geothermal Conference, 27-29
October 2009, Dublin, Ireland. Contact: rpasquqli@csa.ie
World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC), 4-6
November 2009, Washington, DC, USA. Website:www.energycongress.com
2009 Australian Geothermal Energy Conference, 10-13
N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 9 , B r i s b a n e , A u s t r a l i a . We b s i t e :www.impactenviro.com/au/ausgeothermal/
31st New Zealand Geothermal Workshop, Auckland,N e w Z e a l a n d , 1 6 - 1 7 N o ve m b e r 2 0 0 9 . We b s i t e :www.science.auckland.ac.nz/uoa7science/about/research/gei/workshop.cfm
Der Geothermiekongress 2009, 17-19 November,
Bochum. Germany. Contact: info@geothermie.de
35th Stanford Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir
Engineering, 1-3 February 2010, Stanford, California,
USA. Website: http://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/research/geoth/conference/workshop.html
World Geothermal Congress 2010, Bali, Indonesia, 25-29
April 2010. Website: www.wgc2010.org

GEOTHERMICS
International Journal of Geothermal Research and its Applications

Published under the auspices of the International Geothermal Association
Content of the latest issues: http:/www.elsevier.com/locate/geothermics
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Request for Sponsorship - 2010 World Geothermal Congress Bali
The 2010 World Geothermal Congress (WGC) is now just over a year away. This unique event brings theinternational geothermal community together once every 5 years to share scientific and technical information, newtechnology and industry trends, success stories and market opportunities for future developments. The 2010 WGC
is being convened by the International Geothermal Association (IGA) and hosted by the Indonesian Geothermal
Association (INAGA). It will happen on the 25th to 30th of April 2010 in Bali.
The expected 2000+ participants have the opportunity to visit numerous geothermal fields and cultural sites;
attend the trade show and immerse themselves in the technical papers (1,000 abstracts have been received).
The IGA has agreed to solicit funds to support the Technical Program and to provide as many fellowships forgeothermalists from developing countries as possible.
Your contribution is at your discretion, however we are seeking donations of approximately US$2500 per person
sponsored, but organizations are encouraged to consider more than one person. If you are willing to participate inthis sponsorship, further details about the fellowship sponsorship are provided here.

EUROPEA New European Technology
Platform (ETP) Renewable
Heating & Cooling - Geothermal
PanelPhilippe Dumas, European Geothermal
Energy Council - EGECA European Technology Platform for Renewable Heating
and Cooling (ETP-RHC) was endorsed by the European
Commission on 27 October 2008, with the objective ofdeveloping a H&C Technology Roadmap. The goal is to
involve a wide range of stakeholders: Industry, Academic,
Investors, end-users…to define a medium and long term
research and technology development vision: 2020/2030.
European actors (large companies, SME’s, Universities,
Research Centers…) of the geothermal sector decided inearly 2009 to create a geothermal panel inside this ETP inorder to produce a strategic research agenda for theheating & cooling sector.
EGEC published a first edition of the ‘Geothermal
Research Agenda -Strategy 2008 to 2030' in January 2009.
The objective of the ETP-geothermal panel is to develop aroadmap for geothermal H&C technology.
The kick-off meeting of the ETP-RHC geothermal
panel took place in the Renewable Energy House inBrussels on the 26th of June.
Aims of the geothermal panel:• Strengthen the awareness of the huge potential ofg e othe r ma l te chnol og i e s i n c ontri buti ng to asustainable energy infrastructure• Increase R&D activities in the geothermal sector• Accelerate the development of geothermal technology

July - September 2009

• Create conditions for a broad dissemination ofadvanced geothermal technologies
Objectives of the geothermal panel:• Develop a vision for geothermal technology in 2030
• Work out a strategic research agenda to achieve thisvision• Support the implementation of the strategic research
agenda• Identify non-technological framework conditions tofacilitate a broad market deployment for geothermal
technologies
The structure proposed for the geothermal panel at the
kick off meeting in Brussels was modified and finallyaccepted by all participants with 3 Focus Groups:

Focus Group 1: Shallow Geothermal
WG 1.a: Underg round systems technologies andinstallation
WG 1.b: Site investigation, design, sustainability
WG 1.c: exploitation and performance monitoring (incstorage, coupling with others energies)
WG 1.d: Surface systems

Focus Group 2: Deep Geothermal:
WG 2.a: Resource assessment, exploration
WG 2.b: Deep drilling
WG 2.c: Production technologies
WG 2.d: Surface systems: direct uses & cascade uses,
district heating & cooling, CHP
WG 2.e: EGS

Focus Group 3: non-technical issues
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WG3b : deep: market and policies (regulations, financing
and economics), communication
WG3c : training (common for shallow and deep)
The next meeting of the geothermal panel will be heldo n 0 3 - 0 4 / 0 9 / 2 0 0 9 i n B r u s s e l s. M o r e i n f o o n
www.egec.org

Felix Spa - Oradea

Greenhouses with geothermal energy - Oradea (Romania)

CLUSTHERM projectThis project, managed by INNOVA Észak - Alföld
Regional Development and Innovation Agency - Hungary,aims at creating a Central European Thermal Water
Research Cluster.
The strategic objective of CLUSTHERM is to set up a
new research driven cluster in Central Europe on thermal
water utilization that will strengthen the research potentialof the participating regions.
The direct objectives are to:• analyse the RTD development and the needs ofgeothermal energy utilisation• promote synergies and catalyse links between regional,
research and business actors involved in thermal water
utilization (vertical clustering)• foster transnational and cross-border co-operation
between the regional actors of the participating regionsin the field of thermal water utilization (horizontal
clustering)• develop and enhance transnational mutual learning
through information exchange possibilities of regional
stakeholders in creating research driven clusters and todisseminate good policy practices and benchmarking
activities• develop a joint action plan and research strategy among
the participating regions to increase the regional
economic competitiveness through concentrated useof natural resources.
The 12 partners are public national, regional or local
authorities, research entities, enterprises and expert
organizations from Hungary, Romania, Austria andCroatia:
INNOVA Észak-Alföld Regional Development
and Innovation Agency (Coordinator)
Észak-Alföld Regional Thermal Innovation Public Benefit
Organization“VITUKI” Environmental Protection and Water Management
Research Institute Non-profit Company
University of Oradea
North West Regional Development Agency
SC Transgex SA
Vukovar-Srijem County
Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar
South Great Plain Regional Development Agency
South Great Plain Sustainable Environment Foundation
Central Geo Ltd.
Internationalisierungs Center Steiermark
More infor mation : Már ta Völg yiné Nadabán,coordinator - http://www.clustherm.eu/

University of Oradea

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Iceland
IDDP drills into magma at
KraflaGuðmundur Ómar Friðleifsson, and Wilfred A.
Elders , Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP)
After about two months of drilling problems, getting stuck,having twistoffs, and having to sidetrack three times, etc.,
the source of these problems became clear on Wednesday
June 24th, 2009. At 2104 m depth the weight on the drill
bit suddenly declined, the rate of penetration shot up andthere was an immediate increase in torque. On pulling up a
few meters to free the bit and circulate cooling fluid,
cuttings of clear glass appeared, followed by darker
colored obsidian. This glass is of rhyolitic composition,quenched by the drilling fluid from some 1000°C.
Although IDDP must abandon its ambition to drill into an
active supercritical zone at this time, the compensation isthat the team has the opportunity to study active magma
and its interaction with injected water, which is terriblyinteresting.
If this intrusion occurred at the time of the last
eruptions at Krafla (1975-84), a preliminary estimate of its
rate of cooling gives a minimum thickness in excess of
30m. MT/TEM sur veys sug gested that the magma
chamber in the vicinity of this well could be deeper than 4

July - September 2009

IDDP-1 drillsite at Krafla, showing a fumarolic field at a fault
escarpment and the drill rig Tyr . Photo taken by G.O. Fridleifsson,
shortly after hitting the magma.
km, so we may possibly have drilled into a sill or a dike-like
intrusion. The adjacent rock is granophyre that has
intruded the basaltic sequence and has itself been intruded
by basalt. There is a 13 3/8" casing cemented to 1958 m
and the bottom 127 m of the hole is open, cased by 9 5/8"
perforated liner, set about 5 m above the quenched glass
which fills the hole between 1985-2104 m. At the moment
the IDDP is preparing for a flow test that is likely to occur
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Colorless rhyolitic glass shard (approx. 1 mm across) with sphericalvesicles. Photo from the IDDP website, www.iddp.is
produce superheated dry steam for some time from thevicinity of live magma, but since the encounter with themagma the well has been kept cool by coldwater injection under total loss of circulation (i.e. ~>60 l/s). A tracer
injection test is already underway while as yet tracer
recovery has not been detected in nearby wells.
After flow testing this autumn, the well might either
become a producer of high pressure superheated steam, orbe turned into a cold-water injection well. Depending on
the result of the IDDP tests, future possibilities might
include a project to create the world’s highest temperature
Engineered Geothermal System (EGS).
IDDP has plans to drill well IDDP-2 in the next few
years, presumably at the Hengill Geothermal System, or at
Reykjanes, but whether it will happen next year or in 2011
has not been decided.

Switzerland
A new Master in Hydrogeology
and Geothermics
Eva Schill, Professor of Geothermics,
University of Neuchâtel
After the creation of a new Chair in Geothermics andthe establishment of a new Laboratory for Geothermics atthe beginning of 2009, the University of Neuchâtel isextending its current teaching program in hydrogeology to
a new “Master of Sciences” specialized in Hydrogeology
and Geothermics (120 ECTS)¹ from September 2009 on.
The objective of the Masters programme is to understandthe physical and chemical processes affecting fluid
circulation in the shallow and deep subsurface within theframe of sustainable and integrated resource management.
¹ECTS = credits awarded under the European Credit Transfer

and Accumulation System, a mechanism to promote student
mobility. See http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learningpolicy/doc48_en.htm

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The specialization in geothermics aims to provide a
broad training from the understanding of general heattransport processes through geological, geophysical andgeochemical reservoir exploration to sustainable reservoir
exploitation and resource management. It includes geology,
geophysics, petrophysics, hydrogeology and geochemistry.
This Masters programme extends over 2 years. The firstteaching period covers the fundamentals of hydrogeology
and geothermics in 3 general modules:
1) General hydrogeology, hydrochemistry and tracer tests,
2) General geothermics, geothermics in the shallow
subsurface,
3) Reservoir modelling.
The second teaching period is subdivided into thespecializations “Hydrogeology” and “Geothermics”. In
the specialization “Geothermics” the courses concentrateon the topics of deep geothermics. A major focus will begiven to hydrothermal and EGS systems:
Module of specialization 4-G in Geothermics
Heat transport
Advanced reservoir modelling
Geophysical exploration (seismic, MT, gravity)
Geochemical exploration
Numerical simulation of geothermal processes
Reservoir stimulation and exploitation
Plant construction
After completion of the module 4-G, the specialization“Geothermics” continues with a seminar, a 2-week fieldcourse, field trips and finally a Master thesis (9 months).
The total training programme in geothermics is validatedwith 75 ECTS.
Lectures and courses will be given in cooperation with
the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPF-L) and the
University of Lausanne. Further infor mation andinscription are available on our webpag e
http://www1.unine.ch/chyn/php/educ_master_chyn.php?
lang=en.

United Kingdom
Revisiting deep geothermal in
the United Kingdom
Ryan Law, Tony Batchelor, Peter Ledingham
ryan.law@GeothermalEngineering.co.uk

Abstract
A number of deep geothermal research projects in low
permeability formations were started in the mid 1970s,
most notably in the United States, the United Kingdom
and Japan. The United Kingdom research project ran at
Rosemanowes Quarry in SW England for the best part of
15 years and contributed substantially to the technicalknowledge of rock mechanics and reservoir development.
Although the research project in the United Kingdom
was not designed to produce power, the potential for deep

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Summary of previous research

Figure 1. Predicted temperature in °C at 7 km in the UK (afterDowning and Gray, 1986) and the research site
geothermal power remains. Data from the original
research project and other studies have been re-examined
and a potential site selected for a project is being plannedaround a 10MW power plant.
Drilling of a 4.5km
exploration borehole is expected to start in 2010.

Introduction
Despite the location of the United Kingdom, on thestable fore-land of Europe, remote from active volcanismand strong tectonism, surface heat flows and geothermal
gradients indicated that economically useful temperaturesof 60-100°C would be reached at depths of 2 to 3.5 km(Dunham 1974). A calculation was also made of the
expected temperatures at significant depth (7 km) and thisis shown in Figure 1. Although the calculated temperatures
could be regarded as relatively low compared to some ofthe hottest geothermal resources in the world, it can beseen that, particularly in the far South West of the United
Kingdom, the potential does exist for deep geothermal
power generation. These prospects warranted further
research and an extensive research into the rock mechanics
of deep geothermal reservoir creation was undertaken at asite in the Rosemanowes Quarry in Cornwall (Figure 1).

July - September 2009

The research project started in 1977. It was one of thelargest hydrogeological experiments carried out in the
United Kingdom, involving staff from a number of
institutions.
In Phase 1 (1977-80) of the project, boreholes were
drilled to 300 m depth. These were used to demonstratethat is was possible to establish hydraulic connections
between boreholes by injecting water at high pressures,
thus increasing the per meability of the system by
hydraulically developing the natural joints in the granite.
Water was then circulated through these joints (Batchelor
1982).
Phase 2 (1980-1988) was designed to be more closely
related to the conditions required for commercial
exploitation of the technology but with temperaturesdeliberately kept below 100°C and involved drilling two
wells to a depth of 2.1 km. A reservoir was created byhydraulic stimulation but circulation of the system showedthat although the stimulated reservoir, as identified by the
distribution of the induced microseismicity, occupied alarge reservoir rock volume, there was a poor connection
between the injection and production wells.
A subsequent well was then drilled to a depth of
2.6 km at which the rock temperature was 100°C. This
produced a smaller reservoir, with lower impedance andlower water losses (Parker 1989). The new reservoir wascharacterised by carrying out a continuous circulation at
different flow rates, and measuring the hydraulic andther mal perfor mance. The results showed that thereservoir was smaller than that required for commercial
applications, and that at least 15% of the fluid was passing
over a small surface area of rock, resulting in premature
cooling of the production water (Camborne School ofMines 1989).
Phase 3 began in 1988, with a conceptual design of a
6 km deep prototype of a commercial system forgenerating electricity in Cornwall. In addition to theconceptual design study, further research and development
wa s a l so c a r ri e d o u t, a i me d a t ma n i p u l a ti n g th e
Rosemanowes reservoir to improve its performance(Camborne School of Mines 1991). An importantconsequence of this work was a proposal to create large
deep geothermal reservoirs by connecting smaller cells inparallel (Green & Parker 1992).
The U.K. Department of Energy decided in 1991 thatthe next phase of work would concentrate less on researchin Cornwall and would involve greater collaboration with aEuropean programme at Soultz-sous-Forets in Alsace,involving France, Ger many and the European
Commission. The Department’s conclusion was that there
were still ver y substantial technical uncer tainties
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UK, and it seemed unlikely to be economically competitivein the short to medium term.

Proposed UK project
It is now 18 years since deep geothermal exploration
finished in the UK. There is no geothermal licensing
structure in place in the UK and, as this will require
primary legislation, there will not be for the foreseeable
future. This has made development of geothermal
projects more complex. However, in spite of this, it was
decided in 2008 to revisit the data from the UK
experiment and select a new site for a 10MW power plant.
Geothermal Engineering Ltd was formed specifically todevelop the project following a research programme
undertaken by Ove Arup and Partners Ltd. A feasibility
study was undertaken in conjunction with Dr Tony
Batchelor (project director of the UK research project,
now managing director of GeoScience) to find the mostpromising location for the proposed plant.
The geological study was started in 2008 and is now
complete. The study area comprised the portion of west
Cornwall from St Agnes on the north coast to Helston in
the south and from Truro in the east to Hayle in the west
(Figure 2). This area incorporates and surrounds the
Carnmenellis granite outcrop (approximate location shownby the grey circle in Figure 2), which was the site of the
deep geothermal research programme and, as a result, thesubject of significant exploration activity. Of particular
relevance to the study were the three deep wells drilled at
the test site, extensive characterization of the granite fabricand natural fracture system, temperature and stressmeasurements, fluid and gas sampling and analysis andextensive hydraulic stimulation experience.
The study area also includes a significant historicalmining district that extends across the northeastern,northern and northwestern edge of the granite outcrop.
Only one of the mines remains open today but extensive

records exist of mining activity from the 19th and 20th
centuries, penetrating both the granite and surroundingrocks (‘killas’) to depths of 1,000m. These records provide
valuable insight into the nature of the rock fabric andnatural fractures, temperatures, and the occurrence of hot
water inflows.

Geology
As a result of the research projects undertaken in the
1970s it is now broadly agreed that some degree of naturalpermeability needs to be present for the successful
development of a deep geothermal system. To assess andcompare suitable targets at depth the study defined anumber of geological ‘domains’ which were then evaluatedusing the following criteria:
Frac tu re p e rm e ab ility, Do m ain vo lu m e , Te m p e ratu re
The geology of the study area is highly complex andhas been reported in detail in many technical papers (seeParker 1989 Volume 1 for a comprehensive review andreference list).
The key potential lithologies identified for the study aresummarised below:
Formation
Description
Background Granite with normal or ‘background’ fracture
graniteintensity, typical blocky fracture network.
Faulted granite Granite with high fracture intensity due topresence of faults and / or fracture corridors,
plus alteration effects.
Background Devonian formations with normal orkillas‘background’ fracture intensity.
Faulted killas Devonian formations with high fracture
intensity due to presence of faults and / or
fracture corridors, plus alteration effects.
Flank contacts Steep to moderate dipping contacts due tobetweenstoping and / or faulting, with associatedgranite andintrusives in the killas and alteration effects.
killasRoof contacts Flat-lying contacts due to stoping, with
betweenassociated intrusive complexes in the killas andgranite andalteration effects.
killasMajor
Intersections between major faults, fault zones
structuralor folds.
Intersections

Arguments for and against each of the domains weredeveloped based on the assumption that evidence of
naturally enhanced permeability is the most desirable
attribute of a lithology. The arguments for and above thefollowing formations are summarised below:
Figure 2: Proposed study area for the new project (square box)

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Formation For
Systematic orthogonal
Granitejoint sets, master joints,
fracture corridors.

AgainstVariable and reducing
fracture frequency andaperture with depth,
limited connectivity.
High fracture frequency, Narrow damage zones,
Faultedvuggy fault cores, good may be kaolinised with
graniteconnectivity
porosity occlusion
No merit
Killas
Non-systematic joint sets,
many sealed, low fracture
dimension and frequency
Possible argillic alteration
Faulted killas High fracture frequency, on fracture surfaces
vuggy fault cores, wide
damage zones, goodconnectivity, limited
Many sealed fractures,
alteration effects
localisation of faulting at
Potential for highFlank
contact very
fracture density in brittle unpredictablecontactsformations andMany sealed fractures,
metamorphic aureole
unlikely to be faulted
Potential for highRoofcontact
fracture frequency incontacts
brittle formations and Potentially sealed
metamorphic aureole
fractures if structures are
Structural High fracture frequency, ‘fossilized’
Intersections high flow potential

The nature of the fracturing in both the killas
formation (above) and the granite formation (below) canbe most clearly seen in Figure 3. The granite displays ablock like fracture network whereas the killas is more
intensely fractured. The killas also displays more intense
iron staining implying more host rock permeability.
The major controlling factor for the site is thatsignificant faulting is required in order to elevate fracture
permeability above background levels, be it granite or killas.
Moreover, higher fracture density and the potential forenhanced permeability is likely to exist at structuralintersections and in zones of major structural intersection.
A further, but more contentious conclusion is that faulted
killas may be more suited as a deep geothermal host. Thisis suggested mainly because fault damage zones may tendt o b e w i d e r t h a n t h o se i n g r a n i t e ( f o r t h e sa m e
displacement fault), as can be seen in Figure 3, where
metric scale fractures and fracture corridors change
character when crossing from one formation to the other.
A second factor is that fractures in the killas may be lessprone to alteration effects.
Significant uncertainty remains about whether these
predominantly near-surface obser vations can beextrapolated to 4,000m depth. Borehole evidence indicatesthe possibility of this to at least 2,000m in Cornwall, andto greater depths in other locations (eg at the San Andreas
Fault California, and the Kola Peninsula deep borehole).
However, even if secondary alteration is present and acting
to occlude fracture porosity, this may be countered by

July - September 2009

I GA New s No. 77
active stress dilation of fractures, at least for those ofsusceptible orientation. In the absence of these factors thehydraulic properties of fractures in granite and killas at
4,000m depth may be similar.

Stress regime
Many publications have shown that in-situ stressinfluences fracture aperture and hence permeability (seeTamagawa and Pollard 2008 for a recent review). The
present-day stress field in Cornwall is relatively wellunderstood from downhole measurements made in the
Carnmenellis granite (Batchelor and Pine 1986, Parker
1989). The magnitudes and orientations of the principal
stress axes were measured from near-surface to 2,500m
revealing significant stress anisotropy. The implied strikeslip stress regime is consistent with focal plane solutions
from microseismic monitoring carried out during the
research project.
The microseismic events which were produced during
the injection for med a linear ‘cloud’ close to theorientation of a major joint set identified in the granite. It
was concluded that injection was promoting minor slip on
these fractures because they are in a state of critical shear
in the current stress field. Similar work carried out in the
Troon boreholes (a nearby quarry, Heath 1985) also
concluded that fractures oriented approximately NNWSSE were preferential flow paths, but also noted that flow
was taking place in many fractures with strikes orthogonal
to σHmax during injection in the wells, which indicatedpredominantly strike-slip motion on fractures oriented at~25° to σHmax.

Figure 3: Fault structure showing the difference between granite (below) andkillas (above)w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

I GA New s No. 77
These conclusions are in general agreement with theobservations of water ingress in mines, which indicate that
the NW-SE to N-S striking cross-courses are the main sitesof persistent flows, often at intersections with the WSWENE striking lode structures (BGS 1989). The crosscourse flows were reportedly persistent for many years,
and produced water at 40 to 60°C.
Based on the assessment above, it was concluded thatfault zones with enhanced and connected fracture
permeability at 4,000 to 5,000m depth are the mostsuitable geological domain for hosting a deep EGS andthis formed the basis for the site selection.

Temperatures
The whole study area is underlain by a high heatproduction granite, the surface expression of which is the
Carnmenellis Granite. Heat is generated within the graniteby the decay of uranium, thorium and potassium, resulting
in elevated heat flow compared to average rocks in the UK.
It was assumed at the outset of the study that the wholestudy area would have higher than average temperature
gradients and that the geological criteria were moresignificant in choosing the target site. However, areassessment of the relevant heat flow data has been
carried out based on heat generation, ther mal
conductivities, paleoclimate and possible ther mal
refraction effects caused by proximity to the edge of the
granite intrusion in some measurements. Predictions basedon this assessment suggest that temperatures at the
proposed reservoir depth will be commercially viable.

Uncertainties
There is a moderate to high degree of uncertainty
surrounding the prognosis of geological formations andstructures at 4,000 to 5,000m depth, and their character.
This is true despite the wealth of surface and near-surface
data (at least in parts of the study area), and follows fromthe absence of well control and the coarse resolution andambiguity of geophysical remote sensing methods. These
uncertainties will only be significantly reduced when an
exploration borehole is drilled and the host rocks
characterised. This drilling is expected to start in 2010.

References
Batchelor, A. S.: The creation of hot dry rock systems bycombined explosive and hydraulic fracturing. An
International Conference on geothermal energ y,
Florence. May. BHRA Fluid Engineering, Bedford,
321-342 (1982).
Batchelor A.S. and Pine R.J.: The results of in-situ stressdetermination by seven methods to depths of 2500m
in the Carnmenellis Granite. Proceedings. Int.
Symposium on Rock Stress and Rock StressMeasurements, Stockholm (1986).

w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

11
Brooks M., Doody J.J. and Al-Rawi F.R.J.: Major crustalreflectors beneath SW England. J. Geol. Soc. Vol.141,
pp 97-103 (1984).
Camborne School of Mines 1989.: 2C-5 Final Report,
Phase 2C. ETSU G 137F. Department of Energy,
London (1986-1988).
Camborne School of Mines .: Final report, Phase 3A.
(1988-91). Parker, R. H. (ed.) Camborne School ofMines Geothermal Energy Project. Report No. 3A-13(1991).
Clemens J.D.: Observations on the origins and ascentmechanisms of granitic magmas. J. Geol.Soc. Vol. 155,
pp 843-851 (1998).
Cruden A.R.: On the emplacement of tabular granites. J.
Geol.Soc. Vol. 155, pp 853-862 (1998).
Downing, R. A. & Grey, D. A. (eds).: Geothermal EnergyThe Potential in the United Kingdom. HMSO London(1986).
Dunham, K. C.: Geothermal energ y for the United
Kingdom - Geological Aspects. Report of the Instituteof Geological Sciences (unpublished) 1974.
Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU).: Geothermal
Aquifers: Department of Energy R & D Programme.
ETSU-R-39, Department of Energy (1976-1986).
ETSU : Camborne Geothermal Energy project, 2C-7
Resource Evaluation: Volume 2: Seismic Reflection
Survey (report ETSU G 137-P14B) and Volume 3:
Gravity and Thermal Modelling (report ETSU G 137P14C) (1989).
Evans D.J., Rowley W.J., Chadwick R.A., Kimbell G.S. andMillward D.: Seismic reflection data and the internal
structure of the Lake District batholith, Cumbria,
northern England. Proceedings. Yorks. Geol. Soc., Vol.
50, Part 1, pp 11-24 (1994). Green, A. S. P. & Parker, R.
H . : A m u l t i - c e l l d e s i g n o f a H D R r e s e r vo i r.
Geothermal Resources Council Transactions, 16, 457464 (1992).
Heath M.J.: Geological controls of fracture permeability in
the Carnmenellis granite, Cornwall: implications forradionuclide migration. Min. Mag, Vol.49, pp 233-244(1985).
Parker R.H. Ed.: Hot Dry Rock Geothermal energy, Phase
2B Final Report of the Camborne School of Mines
Project. Pergamon Press (1989).
Tamagawa T. and Pollard D. D.: Fracture permeability
created by perturbed stress fields around active faults ina fractured basement reservoir. AAPG Bull., Vol 92,
No. 6, pp 743-764 (2008).

July - September 2009

12

OCEANIA
Australia
Australian Federal
Government’s Geothermal
Drilling Program Round 2
funding
Jim Driscoll, Hot Dry Rocks Pty Ltd
The Australian geothermal industry continues to expand
rapidly since the first geothermal exploration permits wereawarded in 2001, and now comprises 48 explorationcompanies. The area under licence (or application) now
totals nearly 358,400 km2, an area greater than the total
landmass of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Australia Federal Government unveiled Round 2of its Geothermal Drilling Program (GDP) in June 2009.
The GDP is a A$50m competitive merit-based grants
program provided as a dollar-for-dollar subsidy, capped at
A$7 million per proof-of-concept project.
Round 1 of the GDP closed early in 2009 and resulted
in two companies being awarded the full A$7m:
Petrather m Limited’s Paralana Project and Panax
Geothermal Limited’s Limestone Coast Project.
The high cost of drilling deep wells was a key barrier
identified by the Australian Federal Government during alengthy consultation process with various stakeholders in
the Australian and New Zealand geothermal communities.
The GDP funding initiative was implemented to help
overcome this short-term hurdle, and thus accelerate thedevelopment of the Australian geothermal industry.
The Australian Federal Government is extremely keen
to establish Australia as the world leader in EGS( e n g i n e e r e d g e o t h e r m a l sy st e m s) a n d H S A ( h o t
sedimentary aquifer) developments. A key component of
the GDP is therefore to encourage growth, innovation andtechnical capability of the Australian geothermal industry.
There is a high expectation that these skills will betransferable to the wider international geother mal
community.
Four main merit criteria were required to be addressedin the GDP Application: the technical strength of the
project, the technical capability and resources available tothe applicant, the management capability of the applicant,and the financial capability of the applicant. In addition,
the Australian Federal Government was keen for the fundto be used to demonstrate geothermal technology that canbe widespread and applied in a variety of geographical andgeological settings. A further aim of the GDP was todemonstrate the robustness of the EGS and HSA
technology to private sector investors and hence increase
confidence in Australia’s geothermal industry.

July - September 2009

I GA New s No. 77
It is anticipated the first small-scale EGS and HSA
geothermal power plants will be operating in Australia
within the next two years.
A mandatory requirement of the GDP process was thedemonstration by each applicant that their nominatedproject area had a potentially commercially viable
geothermal resource. An assessment of each company’s
resource therefore had to be undertaken, and these
inferred resource estimations were to be fully compliant
with the Australian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results (launched at the Australian Geothermal Energy
Conference in Melbourne in 2008).
Hot Dr y Rocks Pty Ltd (HDRPL) has been
instrumental in helping companies estimate their Inferred
Geothermal Resources; indeed, HDRPL undertook
Inferred Resource Reports for both successful applicantsof the Round 1 funding.

MNGI Pty Ltd (wholly owned
subsidiary of Petratherm Limited)
The Paralana Project (South Australia) is an EGS
project which aims to demonstrate a successful, robust andinnovative geothermal heat exchanger in the Adelaide Fold
Belt metasedimentary rocks at Paralana. It aims to prove
EGS technology with the innovative heat exchanger within
insulator (HEWI) model that will bring forward
geothermal development and investment across Australia
by considerably lowering drilling costs and risks.

Panax Geothermal Limited
The Limestone Coast Project (South Australia) is basedon the concept that commercially viable geothermal
reservoirs can be utilised in deep sedimentary basins where
they are buried under a thick layer of sedimentary rocks
with low thermal conductivity.
The Australian Federal Government views the typicaltechnical program of a proof-of-concept project being
initiated with the drilling of a well between 3 and 5
kilometres. Hydraulic fracture stimulation would usually benecessary to create an effective underground reservoir.
Most projects will involve the drilling of a second well tointersect the reservoir. Monitoring and flow testing would
finally be undertaken to prove reservoir connectivity andfluid circulation.
The Australian Federal Government has indicated that
Round 2 - which closed on 4 August - will be the final
opportunity for companies to secure access to the GDP
funding arrangement; hence it is anticipated there will befive successful applicants.

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I GA New s No. 77

Figure 1: An excavator digging on the main street of a county town in Yanqing County, China

ASIA/PACIFIC RIM
China
Geothermal district heating
project being implemented in
Yanqing county of Beijing
Keyan Zheng, GCES, China
Yanqing County is located in the northwest suburb of
Beijing. The prevailing wind in Beijing in winter is fromthe northwest, so that pollution from existing coal-fired
boilers for space heating in Yanqing County is blown
towards Beijing urban area. In order to improve the air
quality in Beijing as a strategic target, Yanqing County hasplanned to develop local geothermal resources using 5071° C geothermal water for district heating in the central
town. The Yanqing Geothermal District Heating Project
was started formally in the summer of 2009. Fourgeothermal wells already provide geothermal spaceheating in institutional buildings. The existing geothermal
heating area is 207,000 m2. Three new geothermal wells
will be added to supply an extended 171,000 m2 of district
heating, serving schools, an exhibition center, residential
c o m mu n i t y a n d r e s o r t . T h e t o t a l i nve s t m e n t i s
CNY33,364,000 (about 4.9 million USD).
An excavator is now digging on the main streets of thecounty town (figure 1), and all the pipelines for district
heating will be installed during this year. The geothermal
wells will then be drilled year by year (figure 2).

w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

In addition, there are 300,000 m2 of GSHP heating
projects completed in Yanqing. So, a total 678,000 m2 ofgeothermal plus GSHP district heating will be run in the
coming winter. The remaining 574,000 m2 of buildings
have been programmed into the project. They will provide
their own infrastructure, but will wait for geothermal welldrilling over the following 2 or 3 years. When the projectis completed, Yanqing will have over 1.25 million m2 ofgeothermal plus GSHP district heating area. It will save
50,700 tons of coal annually, and will be equivalent to121,000 tons of CO2 emission reduction.

Figure 2: Drilling for hot water in Yanqing County

July - September 2009

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I GA New s No. 77

Philippines
EDC takes over Mindanao
geothermal power plants
Sylvia Ramos, Energy Development
Corporation
On June 18, 2009, the Philippines’ largest geothermal
power producer, Energy Development Corp (EDC) of the
Lopez Group of Companies, secured full ownership andcontrol of the 52 MWe Mindanao 1 and 54 MWe
Mindanao 2 geothermal power plants located in Mindanao
Island, southern Philippines. The signing of the
documents that led to transfer of ownership was
witnessed by officials from the EDC and the Marubeni
Energ y Ser vices Corporation (MESC), one of thesubsidiary companies of the Marubeni Philippines, in two
separate locations: one at the geother mal field in
Barangay Ilomavis, Kidapawan City, Province of North
Cotabato and the other at the head office of the EDC in
Makati City.
EDC took over the two plants from the Mindanao 1
Geothermal Partnership M1GP, a partnership between
Oxbow Power Corp and Japan-based Marubeni Corp. Theenergy conversion agreement (ECA) of the cooperation
period also ended on the same day. The plants wereconstructed from 1994 to 1996 by the M1GP through thebuild operate transfer (BOT) scheme. The Mindanao 1
and Mindanao 2 g eother mal power plants started
commercial operations on March 4, 1997, and June 17,
1999, respectively. In October 2006, EDC and MIGP
agreed to extend Mindanao 1 power plant’s BOT contract
period to coincide with Mindanao 2 power plant’s turnover.
Since commissioning, MIGP and M2GP have operated
with average availability factors of 96% and 98%
respectively, and average plant capacities of 91.3% and92.5%. From 2006 to 2007, MIGP and M2GP accounted
for an average of 10. 56% of the electricity supply in
Mindanao.

Mindanao 1 Power Plant

July - September 2009

Mindanao 2 Power Plant“The turnover of the Mindanao power plants will fully
integrate the value chain of the geothermal business fromsteam production to power generation like our Leyte
projects,” EDC president and CEO Paul Aquino said.
“We will be well positioned to address and benefit fromthe robust growth in peak electricity demand in the
Mindanao grid as we offer cheaper and cleaner sources ofenergy,” he added. The Mindanao plants are the last of
the BOT plants turned over to EDC. In 2006 and 2007,
EDC assumed operations of the unified Leyte plants from
California Energy and Ormat. The unified Leyte plants
consist of the 132 MWe Upper Mahiao, 232.5 MWe
M a l i t b o g , 1 8 0 M We M a h a n a g d o n g a n d 5 1 M We
optimization plants. EDC accounts for 62% or 1,199 MWof the country’s 1,980 MW total installed capacity.

AFRICA
The Addis Ababa Declaration on
Geothermal Energy in East
African Region
Martin N. Mwangi - Managing Director,
GeoSteam Services Ltd
A three day workshop called “Decision Makers’ Workshop
on Geothermal Energy” was organised by the ICSUNIDO with sponsorship of the African Union
Commission (AUC), the Ethiopian Government, and IGA
in collaboration with BGR of Germany. The workshop
was held in the Africa Hall at the United Nations
Conference Centre (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
from 8th to 10th June 2009. The workshop was opened by
the President of the Federal Democratic Republic ofEthiopia, H.E. Girma Wolde-Georgis. Other importanth i g h l e ve l d i g n i ta ri e s we re Ms E . M. A . Ib ra h i m,
Commissioner Infrastructure and Energy, African Union;
Ambassador K. Veraeke, EU special Representative toAfrican Union; Mr D. Tommy, Representative of the
Director General UNIDO, Ambassador C.D. Knoop,
German Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr Martin Lorenzini,w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

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I GA New s No. 77
Italian Charge d’Affaires in Ethiopia, Prof L. Rybach,President of IGA; H.E. A Tegenu, Minister of Mines andEnergy of Ethiopia; Didace Birrabish, Head of Cabinetof the Ministry of Mines, Burundi; Houmadi Abdallah,
Minister for Agriculture, Fishing and Environment,
Comoros Islands; Boussa Bouh Odawa, Minister for
Energy and Natural Resources, Djibouti; Kiraitu Murungi,
Minister for Energ y, Kenya; Ambassador Gaspard
Nylinkid of Rwanda; Adam Kigoma Malima, Deputy
Minister for Energy, Tanzania; D. Vijanga Simon, Deputy
Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda;
Alan Mbewe, Deputy Minister for Energy, Zambia; andMr G. Rosso Cicogna, Managing Director, ICS-UNIDO,
among many others. The total number of regular andopening ceremony participants was about 110 and 150,
respectively. This is the largest number of high leveldignitaries from East Africa to attend a workshop on
geothermal development. Unfortunately, Eritrea was not
represented.
The workshop was planned to help decision makers of
the East African countries that have vast geothermal
resources to understand the issues in the implementationof geothermal projects, available technologies, financial
and environmental issues. The forum was also aimed atproviding an interactive environment between geothermal
experts and decision markers with the aim of promoting
the development of geothermal energy in the region,
which has recently been affected by drought and highprices of fossil fuel for power generation. The workshop
covered the following topics:• Perspective of geothermal development in the East
African region from the represented countries• State-of-the-art of geothermal energy exploration andutilisation• Success stories and strategic role of geothermal energy
from Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Mexico, Italy, and Iceland• Strategic role of legal and regulatory regimes andenvironmental issues• Economics, funding and industrial partnerships• Seminar on electricity production from low enthalpy
geothermal steam condensate or brine.
At the end of the workshop, the Energy ministers or
their representatives issued a declaration that:• geothermal energy, as a clean renewable andsustainable resources, is likely to emerg e as amainstream option for future energy challenges for therespective countries; and• a joint regional effort be urgently activated in order tofacilitate the development of geothermal resources
through capacity building to enhance exchange of
information, data collection, access to short-term andlong-ter m financial resources and industrial
cooperation.
The decision makers agreed:• to recommend to the AUC to establish within thef r a m e wo r k o f i t s i n f r a s t r u c t u r e a n d E n e r g y
Prog ramme a new ag ency to be known as the
Geothermal Energy Development Agency with thetask of supporting the above activities;• to recommend to the AUC to convene a permanent
Regional Forum with the participation of these

Participants of “Decision Makers’ Workshop on Geothermal energy”, Addis Ababa 8th-10th June, 2009w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

July - September 2009

16
countries in order to institutionalize their involvementin the activities of the proposed Agency;• to mandate the AUC to promote cooperation with ICSUNIDO in a strategic collective regional project toaddress these issues, to be submitted to the European
Commission and to other potential donors and to be
implemented according to the different requirementsof each country;• that such projects should include activities in capacity
building, namely advanced training and technicalassistance, in order to ensure that highly qualified
human resources are locally available as required tosustain a long-term strategy which is aimed at the full
exploitation of the geothermal resources; and• that such projects should also include field activities inorder to identify the most promising sites in signatory
countries and to start pilot activities for actual drillingas well as public awareness creation activities.

KENYA
Kenya’s new Geothermal
Development Company to fasttrack geothermal resource
assessment and development
Dr Peter Omenda and Dr Silas Simiyu Geothermal Development Company Ltd
The Geothermal Development Company Limited (GDC)
w h i ch i s a sp e c i a l p u r p o se g e o t h e r m a l re so u rc e
development entity has started its operations in Kenya.
The company was conceived by the Government of
Kenya to take over from the Kenya Electricity Generating
Company (KenGen) the geothermal resources assessmentrole and to leave KenGen to undertake its core business ofpowe r g e ne ra tion. GDC is w holly ow ne d by theGovernment of Kenya and was incorporated in 2008 andis governed by the State Corporations Act of the laws of
Kenya. The main reason for forming GDC was the needto reduce upfront geothermal resource exploration andappraisal risks to investors by the Government taking overthese activities. GDC is, therefore, tasked with the
responsibility of exploring, assessing, developing andmanaging geothermal energy resources in the country to
reduce upstream (electrical and non-electrical)
development risks so as to promote rapid development of
power plants and direct use facilities in Kenya.
In order to achieve its mandate, GDC will carry out
detailed surface exploration studies, and exploratory andappraisal drilling in the identified geothermal fields withfunds from the Government, donors and other lowinterest sources. The fields will then be offered for bidding
to any interested parties who would proceed withproduction drilling and power station development.
However, if no interested parties are found, GDC will

July - September 2009

I GA New s No. 77
proceed to drill production wells until an interested party
is found. It is anticipated that this strategy will assess anddevelop geothermal steam fields in the numerous potential
areas within the Kenya rift valley with the intention ofallowing investors to develop power plants and otherdevelopments at significantly reduced investment risks andtherefore keep the electricity tariff affordable to thepeople and the economy. As part of its responsibilities,
GDC will be in charge of managing all Government
resources required for rapid geothermal assessment anddevelopment and all grants for this purpose will bechanneled through the Company. In order to attract moreprivate developers to participate in geothermal power anddirect use applications, the Government, through GDC,
has set up a special Risk Mitigation Fund to underwrite
unproductive exploration wells for those parties that choseto undertake their own exploration drilling.
As part of its initial activities, GDC has advertised fora tender to drill 10 wells for the planned Olkaria IV(140MW) power plant using two hired rigs. GDC will
manage the steam field development while KenGen willdevelop and operate the power plant.
During the period 2009-2012, GDC with support of
the Government and donors plans to acquire 6 new
drilling rigs in order to drill on its own more than 100
wells which are expected to prove about 500 MWe (steam
equivalent) at a total cost of approximately US$860 million.
In order for the above activities to be realized, GDC isplanning to undertake detailed surface exploration in all
the unexplored high potential geothermal prospects and to
drill exploratory and or appraisal wells. The long term goal
is to prove steam equivalent to 1,500 MWe by 2019 and
3,000 MWe by the year 2030.
Since 5th August 2009, Kenya is rationing power supply tomost customers for up to 37.5 hours a week. This state has
been caused by severe drought which has caused the mainhydro dam that controls most of the hydro power
generation to be closed down for the first time since it was
built. It is believed that if the vast geothermal resources in
Kenya’s rift valley were developed, the current state of
power supply would not occur.

TANZANIA
Recent Geothermal Activities in
Tanzania
Jacob W. M. Mayalla, Senior Geologist,
Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania
Tanzania is one of the East African countries with all thecharacteristics of geothermal energy resources. Most of
the already identified sites with hot springs are located inareas traversed by the East African Rift System. Such areas
include the northern volcanic province of Kilimanjaro,

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I GA New s No. 77
Meru and Ngorongoro and the Rungwe Volcanic province
in Southwest Tanzania. In addition, some coastal areas also
show surface manifestations of geothermal resources.
The Government of Tanzania intends to diversify thecountry’s energy mix and is looking for alternative sourcesof energy. Currently, the national power system is heavily
dependent on hydropower. Long periods of drought
experienced between 2003 and 2006 created serious
shortfalls in electricity supply from the hydropower stations.
Geothermal power generation is regarded as offering one
opportunity to the stabilization of energy supply andenergy prices.
In the quest to diversify sources of energy, Tanzania isinterested in assessing its geothermal resources for the
purpose of exploitation. Although surface geothermal
assessments started in 1976 and more than 50 sites along
the rift valley were identified, none has been exploited todate.
Out of the 50 areas identified, the most promising are:1.
Songwe - Mbeya region;
2.
Luhoi - lower Rufiji Basin; and3.
Lake Natron - Manyara.
In June 2006, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals in
Tanzania (MEM), the Geological Survey of Tanzania(GST) and the Federal Institute for Geosciences andNatural Resources (BGR) of Germany initiated a projectcalled “Geothermal as an alternative source of energy for
Tanzania”. This project is a part of the GEOTHERM
programme which is a technical cooperation programme of
the German government. GEOTHERM project has
conducted surface surveys in several East African countries
in the recent past.
Between June and November 2006, as well as June andJuly 2007, MEM, GST, TANESCO and BGR carried out ajoint field survey in the Songwe-Mbeya region. Geological,
geochemical and geophysical results from this work
identified an area with potential of about 10MW which has
a predicted reservoir temperature exceeding 2000C. The
reservoir has fracture permeability with recharge fromelevated areas and the heat is fed from a shallow magma
chamber.
It has further been recommended that:
1. additional Magnetotellulic (MT) and Transient Electro
Magnetic (TEM) resistivity measurements be made;2. three temperature gradient wells be drilled to 500m to
determine the water table; and3. several deep exploration wells be drilled.
Whereas the government of Tanzania is soliciting funds tocarry out the recommendations above, the area is available
to any investor who is willing to undertake the developmentfrom its currently stage.

w w w.geot herm al- energy.org

IGA News
IGA News is published quarterly by the International
Geothermal Association. The function of IGA Newsis to disseminate timely information about geothermal
activities throughout the world. To this end, a group of
correspondents has agreed to supply news for eachissue. The core of this group consists of the IGA
Information Committee:
Benedict Steingrímsson, Iceland (Chairman)
Graeme Beardsmore, Australia
Werner Bussmann, Germany
Philippe Dumas, France
John Garnish, United Kingdom
Alimin Ginting, Indonesia
Gestur Gíslason, Iceland
Luis Gutierrez-Negrin, Mexico
Roland Horne, USA
Paul Hirtz, USA
Eduardo Iglesias, Mexico
Beata Kepinska, Poland
Jim Lawless, New ZealandPeter Ledingham, UK
Zbigniew Malolepszy, Poland
Francisco E. Montalvo Lopez, El Salvador
Martin N. Mwangi, Kenya
Mahmut Parlaktuna, Turkey
Sylvia Ramos, Philippines
Colin Randall, Australia
Yoonho Song, South Korea
Joaquin Torres-Rodriguez, Mexico
Toshihiro Uchida, Japan
François-David Vuataz, Switzerland
Kasumi Yasukawa, JapanThe members of this group submit geothermal news
from their parts of the world, or relevant to their areasof specialization. If you have some news, a report, or
an article for IGA News, you can send it to any of theabove individuals, or directly to the IGA Secretariat,
whatever is most convenient. Please help us to become
essential reading for anyone seeking the latest
information on geothermal worldwide.
While the editorial team make every effort to ensure
accuracy, the opinions expressed in contributed articles
remain those of the authors and are not necessarily
those of the IGA.
Send IGA News contributions to:
IGA Secretariat, c/o Samorka
Sudurlandsbraut 48, 108 Reykjavík, Iceland
fax: +354-588-4431
e-mail: iga@samorka.is
This issue of IGA News was edited by Eduardo
Iglesias. John Garnish proofread the articles. Producedby Gestur Gíslason for the IGA Secretariat. Design
layout by François Vuataz.

July - September 2009

18

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