By ADAM IHUCHA - Tanzania is whetting appetite to develop  geothermal, as it seeks an alternative source of energy, to wean itself off rain-dependent hydro-power stations, as climate change looms large.

To start with, next year the country will develop a nearly $300 million geothermal power plant, the first of its kind in the country, in Southern highlands, with an output of 100 megawatts.

The project is only a first step as the country expects to exploit nearly 50 other geothermal potential spots across the country capable of producing 5,000 megawatts.

Tanzania, one of the Africa’s geothermal resources rich country, is racing to meet power demand, projecting to hit 10,000 megawatts load by 2025, from the current 2,780 megawatts to lower tariffs, tackle power shortages and cut costs of production.

Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr Stephen Masele says the pioneer power plant will be developed along the geothermal reservoir at Lake Ngozi in Mbeya region.

“The reservoir where our first geothermal power plant will be built has the potential to generate an additional 100 megawatts for the national grid by the end of 2015” Mr Masele explains.

Ngozi is the second largest Crater Lake in Africa, located nearly 15 kilometres southeast of Mbeya City in the Mporoto ridge forest reserve. The lake is located in a caldera, which is 2.5 km long and 1.6 km wide. 
 
A caldera is a roughly circular depression formed by the collapse of a magma chamber roof onto its magma body beneath.  It is a large rounded depression resulting from the destruction of a volcano in a violent eruption.

The slopes of the crater wall are covered by Upper Montane Forest, grassland and bamboo.

Plenty Steam
The chief executive officer with the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST), Prof Abdulkarim Mruma says that geophysical survey shows that heat on the top of the lake Ngozi is above 200 degrees centigrade.

Ngozi crater Lake

“Scientifically, the heat is sufficient enough to generate power after drilling,” Prof. Muruma said in Arusha recently.

Tanzania lies, as does Kenya, in the East Africa’s Rift Valley: “a giant trench stretching 6,000 km from the Red Sea to Mozambique, where two tectonic plates are slowly drifting apart.”

Already, the country has formed a Tanzania Geothermal Development Company (TGDC), a subsidiary of the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) incorporated towards the end of July 2014 in a bid to expedite the harnessing of the natural resource.      
            
TGDC aims to start generating up to 4,000 megawatts of electricity out of 5,000 megawatts potential from the geothermal source within two years and another additional 1,000 megawatts in 2020, a very ambitious target.

The TGDC general manager, Mr Boniface Njombe says is endowed with several hot spots include Lake Natron, Manyara national park, Ngorongoro crater, Lake Eyasi, Kisaki, Luhoi, central zone, Maji Moto area in Mara region and the Western zone.

Regulation
But the sector has struggled to attract investment because of complex regulations and difficulties securing project finance.

However, the AfDB Principal Energy specialist, Emeka Oragunye says that they were keen to support Tanzania to unlock its geothermal potential.

“AfDB is leading the development of the scaling up renewable energy program (SREP), which will include the financing of a geothermal plant hopefully come 2015, to exploit a slice of 5,000 megawatts potential” Mr. Oragunye noted.

It is understood, the geothermal development in Tanzania has received $25 million from SREP in Low-Income Countries and $45 million support from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Tanzania’s current per capita electricity consumption is under 100 kWh per year; with demand increasing at eight percent annually due to accelerating productive investments and a steadily growing population.  

The state expects to raise the country’s electricity access rate from 18.4 percent of the population to at least 75 percent by 2035; whilst demand from connected customers is expected to grow significantly as the country reaches middle-income status by 2050. 
         
Climate change
Humphrey Moshi, Professor of economics at the University of Dar es Salaam says that it is imperative for Tanzania to shift from hydropower source of energy due to the effects of climate change, and focus on alternative sources of energy such as geothermal, coal and natural gas.

Tanzania’s National Climate Change Strategy has identified the vulnerability of water resources and hydropower in the country, among other climate-sensitive sectors. 

With a high reliance on hydroelectricity for cheap, grid-based electricity supply and the impact of the power sector on the country’s economy, vulnerability of the sector poses substantial risks to economic growth in Tanzania.

"Its high time for Tanzania to do away with generating electricity from hydro and oil-fired power stations. This source of electricity is very costly to consumers and the economy and is not sustainable. It actually adds up to the cost of doing business in Tanzania, with a high inflation rate" Prof. Moshi stressed.

Domestic and industrial energy consumers faced a 40 percent increase in electricity tariffs earlier this year as a result of what the government said was the rising cost of producing electricity.

Tanzania has proven reserves of natural gas in excess of 50 trillion cubic feet - more than enough to put the country on a faster economic development path and help it build energy independence, the government says.

Currently, natural gas accounts for about a third of Tanzania's electricity generation, with hydropower and liquid fossil fuel contributing in roughly equal measures to the balance.

Global trends indicate a pressing need to shift from the use of fossil fuels to cleaner energy.

America and Europe, the major oil markets, are hard at work developing technologies and enacting regulations aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

“This may trigger a “carbon bubble” in which fossil fuel assets (coal, oil and gas) could be significantly devalued especially if an imminent global deal to tackle climate change is reached in December 2015 in Paris” Kanyinke explains.

If the World agrees to stabilize global warming at below 2°C, he says, fossil fuel companies will be obligated not to utilize most their current reserves let alone develop new ones.

And if the energy commitments at the just concluded UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit are anything to go by, then East Africa needs to take a fresher look at the frenzy around coal, oil and gas activities in its backyard, Kanyinke noted.

This is besides the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative led by the UN and World Bank, that set 2030 as a goal for doubling the global rate of energy efficiency improvement, doubling renewable energy’s share in the global energy mix, and ensuring universal access to modern energy services.

“This will definitely reduce demand for fossil fuel based energy sources” he stressed.