The government of Djibouti has received additional funds for its geothermal exploitation project in the Lake Assal region following the approval of approximately USD 3.22 million by the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.
The pan-African bank has already granted two other loans for implementation of the sustainable development project, USD 6.83 million and USD 14.68 million in 2013 and 2016 respectively. This brings the total AfDB’s investment in the project to USD 24.73 million.
The USD 3.22 million grant will allow the cleaning of well number 2 and make more tests for all Djibouti geothermal wells in order to collect reliable data, intended for a feasibility study, with an acceptable risk profile for commercial exploitation.
The project, located in the centre of the East African country, will be undertaken in three phases on a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Phase-I will be carried out to confirm the characteristics of the geothermal resource, while Phase-II will be the development of the geothermal field and the construction of a power plant with a capacity of 20 MW, and finally the extension of the capacity of this plant to 50 MW.
The project will ultimately increase the green energy production capacity of the country in the Horn of Africa, increase access to electricity through a more reliable and more efficient source, and consequently improve the quality of life of the Djiboutian population.