Kalahari Geo Energy starts drilling activity on project in Zambia
Kafue River, Zambia (source: flickr/ S1m0nB3rry, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
21 Ağu 2013
Kalahari Geo Energy Limited has started preliminary shallow drilling for its planned geothermal power project in the Kafue basin, Zambia.
Geothermal developer Kalaharhi Geo Energy Limited has commenced preliminary shallow drilling for geothermal energy development at its identified sites in the Kafue basin, Zambia.
The firm drilled 54 metres of its first core-slim-well in three days, chief executive officer, Peter Vivian-Neal said in an interview on Friday during a site visit.
“Our target is to drill 330 metres,” he said. “The objective of the first well drill is essentially to get temperature gradient and geophysical surveys. This is key information in the development of geothermal.”
Kalahari Geo Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zambian government in 2011 for geothermal energy exploration rights to certain identified targets, among them in Kafue basin, but delays to get environmental approval hindered the commencement of exploration works.
The firm, which last year managed to get environmental clearance from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) after delays, said it planned to commence deep drilling next month depending on the results from the initial shallow drilling it was currently undertaking.
“If the results from the deep drilling are satisfactory, we may start the plant design in the first quarter of next year and possibly commence power generation in 2015,” said company director Moses Banda.
Current electricity supply comes mostly from hydro power, but an increase in demand is forcing Zambia to look at other potential energy sources.
Mike Krahmer, a geothermal geologist from the USA, said Zambia had huge potential for geothermal. Depending on the results from this project, we are going to see more interest in geothermal in Zambia,” said Krahmer.
Zambia, Africa’s top copper producer, plans to double its electricity generation capacity to 2,800 megawatts in 5-6 years to ensure adequate supply of power to the mines.Zambia’s peak electricity demand of 1,650megawatts (MW) exceeded the country’s generation capacity by about 250 MW and demand was projected to rise by three to four per cent per year.”
Source: Post Zambia
