Contribution to the Geothermal Exploration of Eburru Field

Abstract

With the increasing global demand for clean energy, the use of geothermal energy is expected to increase in the future. The East African countries, especially those crossed by the East African Rift System, have a significant potential in geothermal energy. This paper comes therefore to bring a contribution in the exploration of this clean energy in Africa especially in the region of Eburru in Kenya. Eburru is one of the geothermal fields in Kenya, with the estimated capacity of around 250Mwe. This paper presents the results and interpretations of the processing and the analysis of some geophysical survey data especially gravity, geochemical data and geological data acquired during our field survey. For the geology studies, a geological map showing structures trending in North-South direction and also several geothermal manifestations like fumaroles, hot ground and craters were mapped. From the geophysical studies, a heat source located at 1500 meters below masl and the reservoir is estimated between 1000 above masl to 1000 below masl. The cap rock of this prospect is between 1000 to 2000 meters above masl and the density increases from the West to the East of the prospect. The interpretation of the fluids geothermometers gave the calculated temperature between 255-270 Celsius degree. By combining and interpreting the different results obtained, we found that the Eburru, with the reservoir temperatures ranged between 255-270°C, has the potential to provide geothermal energy for various utilization.