EGENCO MOVES TO EXPLORE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY – SIGNS COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH KENYAN COMPANY

In a bid to diversify its energy generation sources, the Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (EGENCO) has signed a Collaboration Framework Agreement (CFA) with Kenya’s Geothermal Development Company (GDC) aimed at accelerating the development of geothermal energy in Malawi.

“We are happy to collaborate with GDC as we seek to diversify our energy sources.” Said William Liabunya, EGENCO’s Chief Executive Officer, following the signing of the agreement in Kenya.

The collaboration agreement will tackle three broad areas including technical assistance, institutional framework development and resource mobilization.

The Chief Executive Officer for Geothermal Development Company, Paul Ngugi, assured EGENCO that GDC has vast pool of expertise in geothermal technology that will prove helpful.

Malawi is said to have significant potential in geothermal energy resources, estimated at 200MW, due to its location within the East African Rift System (EARS), one of the hottest zones in the world. The country lacks capacity to exploit geothermal energy due to lack of technical know-how, personnel and resources.

Collaboration with GDC will enable the country to tap into the Company’s expertise in the quest for Malawi’s geothermal development.
Formed in 2008, Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is a fully government-owned company in Kenya that offers consultancies and trainings through its Geothermal Centre of Excellence (GCE) in response to existing regional skills gap in the geothermal energy sub-sector.