BGR’s GEOTHERM Program 2003 - 2015

Abstract

With climate protection and sustainable development of natural resources as objective, in 2003 the German government had initiated a program to support the utilization of geothermal energy in developing countries within the scope of Technical Cooperation. The program was headed by BGR (German Geological Survey) and intended to remove the development obstacles in geothermal energy which are high upfront costs, high risk of failure (exploration wells), inadequate political, institutional and economic framework conditions and lack of Know How. In 9 countries (Chile, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen) 12 projects had been performed. This talk will highlight the impacts (Surface exploration, Capacity building, Strengthening of local institutions) of the GEOTHERM Program, our cooperation with KfW’s (German Development Bank) risk mitigation fund and shall throw a light on the changes that had happened to geothermal development (mainly Eastern Africa) over the past 12 years.