The Cabot Institute, University of Bristol and NERC are hosting a 2-day workshop aiming to improve the links between academic research and the geothermal industry in East Africa.

It has been estimated that ~70% of the population in East Africa rely on traditional fuels, meaning that they do not have access to electricity.  The geothermal potential of the East African Rift is thought to be in excess of 15,000 MW – larger than the present-day global geothermal production – but without the CO₂ output or rainfall-dependence of other energy generation methods. Multi-million dollar investments from organisations such as the World Bank are driving a 10-fold expansion in the next decade. UK universities have a long history of research into the volcanic and tectonic processes occurring in the East African Rift. 

The data being collected could help industry improve geothermal production and reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with geothermal development by understanding the interactions between magmatic and geothermal processes.  This potential impact would benefit from strengthened relationships between the researchers and industry. 

Participants include:

• Universities of Bristol
• University of Oxford
• University of Glasgow
• University of Addis Ababa
• Geological Survey of Ethiopia
• British Geological Survey
• Ethiopian Electricity Power Co-orporation
• Rekjavik Geothermal
• The Eden Project
• EGS Energy
• Cluff Geothermal

Programme

Download the programme (PDF, 363kB) [PDF, 364 KB]

How to get here

Download a map (PDF, 554kB) detailing where the workshop will be held in Bristol [PDF, 544 KB]

Registration

Attendance at this workshop is by invite only, but if you have an interest in attending, please contact juliet.biggs@bristol.ac.uk