Environmental and Social Consideration of a Geothermal Project in Arta Area, Djibouti

Abstract

The Surface Study of Arta Prospect, funded by the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility, was carried out in 2018 by ODDEG (Djiboutian Office of Geothermal Energy Development) with an International Expert Team from Japan. In order to target boreholes (drillings) and to determine the potentialities in terms of the development of geothermal energy in the Arta region by which an Exploration Drilling project is planned to be carried out by ODDEG in the Arta Geothermal Prospect. In view of the possible impacts caused by a geothermal energy development project including the exploration drilling phase in Djibouti, a detailed Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is required in accordance with the Environmental Code (Law No. 51/AN/09/6L ) and the Decree No. 2011-029 / PRE of the Ministry of Housing, Urban Planning and the Environment (MHUE). The Arta geothermal prospect is a new area in the Republic of Djibouti for the development of geothermal energy, but Arta is also well known for its touristic activities (especially the Arta Beach), military training activities (especially the foreign military training activities), the fishery activities, and the protected area (migratory way of the whale shark). All of those activities make Arta extremely sensitive to geothermal development projects. In this paper, the environmental and social considerations for an exploration drilling project in the Arta area will be analyzed in order to help the realization of an environmental and social assessment study.