East Africa: Geothermal Power a Cheaper Option

Estimates place the geothermal electricity generation capacity of East Africa as high as 2,500 MW. In Western Uganda, the hot springs around Lake Albert could produce as much as 450MW of electricity, which is more than the current power demand of the entire country.

They have reasonable maintenance and operation costs relative to other power stations and zero fuel costs. Per kilowatt-hour production costs are equivalent to hydropower production costs, with projections from the world energy assessment estimating that improved technology will reduce the generation cost to 1-8 cents per kWh in future, making it even cheaper than projected hydropower sources.

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