- 4th Resource has been awarded a licence by the Ethiopian authorities to conduct geothermal surveys in two regions.
- The studies will measure the intensity of the geothermal resource with a view to developing this renewable energy in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia considers increasing the proportion of geothermal energy in its energy mix. As part of this policy, the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines has granted 4th Resource, a Calgary-based company, a geothermal reconnaissance permit.
The license covers an area of 1,948 km2 in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State and Dire Dawa Administrative Council regions. With this license, 4th Resource will evaluate and qualify previously identified geothermal resources in order to move into the exploration and development phases. The permit was issued under the Ethiopian government’s new geothermal regulations, which were issued in 2019 with the goal of facilitating and encouraging the development of geothermal energy in the country.
The Ethiopian portion of the Great Rift Valley stretches 1,000 kilometres from the Afar Depression in the northwest to the Turkana Depression in the south, providing Ethiopia with abundant geothermal resources.
According to the book Clean Energy Opportunities in Tropical Countries published by Springer in January 2021, the potential of this East African country is estimated at 10,000 MWe. Ethiopia has already begun to tap its geothermal potential, with an installed capacity of 8 MWe. Geothermal energy development is underway at several sites in Oromia’s southern region, including Tulu Moye, Corbetti, and Aluto Langano. These projects are in the exploration and construction stages and are being developed by private companies such as Meridiam in France, Reykjavik Geothermal in Iceland, InfraCo in Africa and Berkeley Energy in the United Kingdom.