The Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is set to receive a whopping US $13m grant from the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) to finance drilling of six wells in Baringo County, Kenya.
Sylvain Degolmal, GRMF’s Marketing Expert confirmed the reports and said that 40% of the grant will cover the costs associated with the drilling of two geothermal wells in each of the three prospects and 20% of the total costs will be incurred during the development of requisite infrastructural work in the project area.
“The next step is for GDC who have committed to expediting the process of getting the requisite approvals to pave the way for the signing of the grant,” said Sylvain Degolmal.
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Baringo-Silali Geothermal project
The Baringo-Silali Geothermal project covers three geothermal prospects – Silali, Paka and Korosi – from which the company is looking to produce a total of 300MW by 2030. The GRMF funding comes at a time when there is a renewed investment in green energy projects in the country and region.
Geothermal resource is largely under-exploited in the country despite its potential in adding to the national energy mix. The project would have an impact not only locally but also in the larger East African region.
Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF)
GRMF was set up in 2012 as a risk mitigation firm by African Union Commission (AUC), some of the members in the facility include EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, UK Department for International Development (DFID) and German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ). The key mandate for GRMF is to remove upfront costs in infrastructure development to encourage East African countries develop geothermal energy sources in green-fields.
