Seven companies have qualified for full submission to the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) for East Africa. Out of an original 18 submissions, 10 project winners of the 6th GRMF Application Round bids were announced at the beginning of February.
These ten projects include seven drilling programmes and three surface studies. Evaluation of the full applications is still ongoing.
An announcement has been made that the 7th round is likely to take place in June 2021. According to an announcement, the GRMF programme will be introduced to potential applicants and the application process will be discussed.
This follows news that the Department of Infrastructure & Energy of the African Union Commission and the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) have signed a GRMF grant contract for the Paka drilling programme. The total grant amount of $5,162 million will support 40% of the total drilling cost and 20% of the infrastructure development cost of the project.
The grant will enable GDC to drill two deep geothermal wells and upgrade the existing infrastructure to allow further development of the geothermal resource in the project area in the Baringo – Silali Geothermal Province.
This project is part of the first geothermal drilling programme, situated approximately 120km south of Lake Turkana. GDC believes the project could provide 100MW from the Pak geothermal project.
“GDC would like to appreciate the African Union Commission (AUC) and its partners KfW, BMZ, EU Africa ITF and FCDO for the highly-significant GRMF funding support aimed at mitigating the high risks associated with geothermal development. We look forward to a continued partnership with GRMF in the development of our geothermal projects moving forward,” said the GDC MD and CEO, Eng. Jared O. Othieno on signing the grant contract.
GRMF was established to fund, facilitate, and accelerate geothermal development in Eastern Africa. The purpose: to encourage public and private sector investment into geothermal power generation. This is done through grants for surface studies, drilling programmes and reservoir testing to confirm wells.
