GEO-THERMAL ENERGY IN UGANDA

GROUP MEMBERS
1. GILBERT NAMANYA
2. SANDRAH AHEREZA
3. BENEDICT HANGIRIZA
 INTRODUCTION
Geothermal energy is the energy got from hot springs which discharge
groundwater that is heated by shallow intrusions of magma(molten rock) in
volcanic areas.
How are hot springs formed?
• Surface water percolates downward through the rocks below the earth’s surface to
high-temperature regions surrounding a magma reservoir.
• Magma heats the nearby water and as a result of high pressures developed, some of this
geothermal water travels up through faults and cracks and reaches the earth’s surface as
hot springs.
Geothermal is also a renewable energy source.
Figure 1
Geothermal energy situation in uganda

• The exploration for geothermal resources in Uganda is still at the reconnaissance

and exploration stage.
• Reconnaissance surveys on Ugandan hot springs started in 1921.
• In 1973, an attempt was made to initiate a geothermal project with United
Nations Support, but this did not materialize.
• Exploration for geothermal energy has been in progress since 1993, so far 3
potential areas; Katwe-kikorongo, Buranga, and Kibiro have been identified for
detailed exploration.
• The rest of the geothermal areas of Uganda are at a preliminary level of
investigation, and results will soon be available.
Geothermal energy potential and demand in Uganda.

• Geothermal resources are estimated at about 500 MW in the Ugandan Rift System.
• To utilize the geothermal resources, the government and the federal Institute of
Geosciences and natural resources Germany, has initiated a project on the rift
system. A model has been developed which suggests a possible drilling location.

• A 10 MW binary power plant might be feasible, which could allocate a local

electricity supply in Bundibugyo district for more than 200,000 people.

• Geothermal energy has a potential role in the energy mix of Uganda because of its
location in remote areas far from the single source of hydropower, and uncertainty
of continued availability of hydropower arising from climatic fluctuations. It is
also environmentally benign .
 GEO-THERMAL SITES IN UGANDA

a) East-African Rift Valley b) Geo-thermal areas in Uganda

District Site name Temperature (0C) Remarks

Kasese Katwe-kikorongo Surface temperature: 710C The results obtained from surface studies carried out so far
have provided sufficient information for development of
Inferred reservoir geothermal energy programme. Katwe-kikorongo site has
Temperature: 150-2300C been selected for drilling of a first geothermal well in
Uganda. The site has occurrence of a medium to high
temperature resource.
Bundibugyo Buranga Surface temperature: 970C the results carried out so far indicate that Nyansimbe and
Mumbuga in Buranga (Sempaya valley) have the highest
Inferred reservoir surface heat output among the thermal prospects
Temperature: 120-1500C considered, and provided sufficient information for
development of geothermal energy programme.
Hoima Kibiro Surface temperature: 840C The results indicate that Kibiro site has moderate surface
heat output among the thermal prospects considered
Inferred reservoir
temperature: 2000C and
above

Table: major geo-thermal sites in uganda

Source: Report on The Renewable Energy Resource Information Development And Capacity Building Assessment In
Uganda by Kamfor Company Limited, January 2007
BURANGA: GEO-THERMAL SURFACE MANIFESTATIONS
 MEANS OF GEOTHERMAL EXPLOITATION
• Geothermal exploitation is aided by construction of geothermal power plants.

Schematic diagram: geothermal power plant

• Geothermal reservoirs also have different characteristics that determine the type of geothermal power
plants to be constructed.
• There are three kinds of geothermal power plants; dry steam , flash steam, and binary steam power plants.
• Dry Steam
• This type of geothermal power plant is referred to as dry steam since water that
is extracted from the underground reservoirs has to be in its gaseous form
(water-vapor).
• Geothermal steam of at least 1800C- 2300C is extracted from the reservoirs
through the production wells , but is then sent directly to the turbine.
Geothermal reservoirs that can be exploited by geothermal dry steam power
plants are rare.
• Flash Steam
Flash steam power plants are the most common and use geothermal reservoirs of water with
temperatures in the range 1500C – 3700C. This very hot water flows up through wells in the ground
under its own pressure. As it flows upward, the pressure decreases and some of the hot water boils
into steam. The steam is then separated from the water and used to power a turbine/generator. Any
leftover water and condensed steam are injected back into the reservoir, making this a sustainable
resource.
• Binary Steam
The binary cycle power plant has one major advantage over flash steam and dry steam power plants: The water-
temperature can be as low as 107°C- 182°C.
By using a working fluid (binary fluid) with a much lower boiling temperature than water, thermal energy in the
reservoir water flashes the working fluid into steam, which then is used to generate electricity with the turbine.
The water coming from the geothermal reservoirs through the production wells is never in direct contact with
the working fluid. After the some of its thermal energy is transferred to the working fluid with a heat exchanger,
the water is sent back to the reservoir through the injection wells where it regains it’s thermal energy.
 Uses of some of the features on the power plants

• Production wells are used to lead hot water/steam from the

reservoirs and into the power plant.
• Rock catchers are in place to make sure that only hot fluids is sent to
the turbine. Rocks can cause great damage to steam turbines.
• Injection wells ensure that the water that is drawn up from the
production wells returns to the geothermal reservoir where it regains
the thermal energy (heat) that we have used to generate electricity.
 GEO-THERMAL ENERGY EXPLOITATION CONTINUED

• Volcanic areas
Several types of rock contain radioactive substances such as uranium.
Radioactive decay of these substances releases heat energy, which
warms up the rocks. In volcanic areas, the rocks may heat water so that
it rises to the surface naturally as hot water and steam. Here the steam
can be used to drive turbines and electricity generators.
• Hot rocks
In some places, the rocks are hot, but no hot water or steam rises to the
surface. In this situation, deep wells can be drilled down to the hot rocks
and cold water pumped down. The water runs through fractures in the
rocks and is heated up. It returns to the surface as hot water and steam,
where its energy can be used to drive turbines and electricity generators.
The diagram below shows how this works.
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY EXPLOITATION IN HOT
ROCKY AREAS
GEOTHERMAL POWER GENERATION
Considerations
• Resource temperature and thermodynamic considerations
• Fluid chemistry
Gas concentration(condenser efficiency )
Scaling potential (silica scaling)
Corrosion potential – acid from production wells
• Production well characteristics
• How the resource will change with time
 Brief explanation on how geothermal energy is converted
to electricity
• Geothermal power plants use steam turbines to generate electricity. This
approach is very similar to other thermal power plants using other sources
of energy than geothermal.
• Water or working fluid is heated (or used directly incase of geothermal dry
steam power plants), and then sent through a steam turbine where the
thermal energy (heat) is converted to electricity with a generator through a
phenomenon called electromagnetic induction. The next step in the cycle is
cooling the fluid and sending it back to the heat source.
• Water that has been seeping into the underground over time has gained heat
energy from the geothermal reservoirs. There is no need for additional
heating, as you would expect with other thermal power plants.
DETERMINATION OF EFFICIENCY OF A GEOTHERMAL POWER
PLANT
• The efficiency of a power station is evaluated as follows: net
electricity produced/energy input .
• In geothermal power plants, the energy input can be defined as total
mass of fluid (kg/s) *the average enthalpy (kJ/kg) as shown below:

• Where; W is the running capacity (kW)

• ṁ is the total mass flow rate (kg/s)
• h is the reservoir enthalpy (kJ/kg).
FACTORS AFFECTING THE EFFICIENCY

• Heat losses in pipes, with the size of the losses depending on the
pipe insulator, the length of pipe, and the ambient temperature.
• Geothermal power production passes through many processes
and/or different pieces of equipment on its way to the power
station.
• Generator and turbine efficiency.
• Weather conditions.
Global geothermal power perspective (2010)
COMPARISON OF CAPACITY FACTOR, EFFICIENCY, AND
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

①Average greenhouse gas emissions expressed as CO2 for individual energy generation technologies: CO2 equivalent
g/kWh
②Water consumption in kg/kWh of electricity generation
③ Units: km2/kWh
 USE OF GEO-THERMAL ENERGY
ELECTRICAL USE OF GEO-THERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal is environmentally friendly.

Geothermal plants do not burn fossil fuels to turn turbines. Decrease in use of fossil fuels, reduces
gaseous emissions that harm the atmosphere. There is no smoky air around geothermal power plants
and they can be built in the middle of farms and forests, and share land with cattle and local wildlife.

Geothermal saves foreign exchange and has no fuel inputs into its price.
As earlier noted, geothermal power plants do not use fuel to power them therefore, they help
save money that the country would spend on importing fuel. The geothermal “fuel’’ - like the
sun and wind - is always where the power plant is.
Provides energy diversity and opportunity for supply to grow with demand
Geothermal power plants are flexible; provide cost-effective energy, even in a
moderate scale; and enable incremental development matching genuine demand
growth. Geothermal also provides modular increment of energy at remote sites.
Low hazard risk
Geothermal has low hazard risks in case of plant accident compared to gas,
hydropower, nuclear and other energy sources.
Minimal land required and stable energy tariffs
Development of geothermal energy requires little land compared to hydropower.
The land area required for geothermal power plants is smaller per megawatt than for
almost every other type of power plant. Its installations do not require damming of
rivers or harvesting of forests.
NON-ELECTRIC USES OF GEO-THERMAL ENERGY
Any time geothermal water or heat is used directly, less electricity is used. Using
geothermal water ‘directly’ conserves energy and can also replace the use of
polluting energy resources with clean ones. Geothermal waters ranging from 100C
to over 150C are used directly from the earth:
•to soothe aching muscles in hot springs, and health spas (balneology)
•to help enhance growth of flowers, vegetables, and other crops in greenhouses (
agriculture )
• to shorten the time needed for growing fish and alligators to maturity (aquaculture)
• to pasteurize milk, dry crops and lumber (industrial uses)
CHALLENGES FACING THE EXPLOITATION AND
EXPLORATION OF GEO-THERMAL ENERGY IN UGANDA
 The main challenge to geothermal development in Uganda is that its development continues to be
considered more expensive than hydropower. This, however, ignores not only the reality that
geothermal is often of lower-cost than hydropower but also the numerous benefits it offers.
 There is inadequate data on the various aspects of the nation’s geothermal energy resources (
availability, quantity, quality-resource characteristics) and the lack of set national targets within
which the country’s renewable energy resources can be developed.
 It is true that geothermal exploration processes are expensive. However, at the same time, there has
been limited funding for geothermal development. In addition, there is a lack of local geothermal
expertise, leading to over-dependence on expensive foreign skilled labor and equipment
unaffordable to a poor country like Uganda.
 Some geothermal resources in Uganda are located in environmentally sensitive areas like the
National Parks, making their development a contestable issue. Lack of information on the available
environmentally friendly and modern geothermal technologies that recycle the brine has also
contributed to the limited development of the resource.
 STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES
• Institution Framework: Creation of a Geothermal Department to handle activities
regarding geothermal development.

• Policy and regulatory framework: Review the existing policy and legal framework, and
put in place a new geothermal policy and legislation to focus on geothermal energy
development.

• Financing of the Geothermal Energy projects: Government to provide funding for

geothermal exploration and development.

• Feed-in tariffs: Government to establish Feed-in tariff to create a predictable business

environment for geothermal energy projects.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
• Need to better understand geothermal resource potential in Uganda and accelerate development. The
government needs to take a lead.
• Geothermal development processes should adhere to set national environmental guidelines, be transparent
and solicit for genuine stakeholder participation in all project processes. Development of the resource
should be based on merit and in accordance with the internationally accepted best practice of competitive
bidding.
• Developers should take the responsibility of disclosing the technology to be used and demonstrate its
advantages and disadvantages over other technologies; with emphasis on the impacts of the chosen
technology to the environment. Environmentally friendly technologies should be used with clear and action
oriented mitigation measures to identified environmental problems in the Environmental Impact Studies
(EIS)
• Local communities are supportive of geothermal development, but there is a need to ensure it’s sympathetic
of local activities.
• Need to better coordinate academic research and educational aspects of geothermal energy.
• The geothermal development initiatives should have a social and an economic development plan for the
communities located in close proximity to the resource.
 CONCLUSIONS
Development of of Uganda’s geothermal resources is estimated at 500MW and this
presents a big investment potential and an opportunity for the energy sector to grow and
thus solve the countries energy woes.
Geothermal Power has a high degree of availability, low land use, low atmospheric
pollution, almost liquid zero pollution as liquids are re-injected, insignificant
dependency on weather conditions and comparatively low visual impact. While
currently not used, geothermal energy can substantially contribute to the energy needs of
the nation.
With increased research and development funding in conjunction with supportive
renewable energy policies, it is estimated that renewable sources of energy could meet
20 percent of the nation’s electricity needs by 2020.
Geothermal energy can provide the clean, reliable, and plentiful renewable energy
resource for our nation and for the world with minimal environmental costs.
REFERENCES
1. Bahati G, Natukunda JF, 2008: Status of Geo-thermal exploration and
development in Uganda, p. 1-3.
2. Ármannsson, H., 1994: Geochemical Studies on three geothermal areas
in West and Southwest, Uganda. Final Report. Geothermal Exploration
UGA/92/003, UNDESD, GSMD, Uganda, 85pp.
3. Gislason, G, Ngobi G, Isabirye, E.M., and Tumwebaze, S., 1994: An
Inventory of three Geothermal Areas on West and Southwest Uganda.
Prepared by the United Nations for a Project of the UNDP.

4. McNitt J.R., 1982: The geothermal potential of East Africa.

Proceedings of the Regional Seminar on Geothermal Energy in Eastern and
Southern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, 3-8.

5. Musisi, J, 1991: The neogene geology of the Lake George – Edward

basin, Uganda. PhD. thesis.