Kerui Petroleum, Chinese equipment and oil services company engaged in an energy project in Ethiopia, announced it has successfully lifted the derrick and substructure for the first 1500HP drilling rig at Aluto-Langano, Ethiopia's 70 MW geothermal energy project.
This marks a milestone for a project which holds a significant place in Ethiopia's plans to expand geothermal generation rather quickly in the coming years.
Kerui Petroleum, along with Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC, signed a contract with Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP). According to this contract signed in February 2019, Kerui Petroleum agreed to supply two sets of 1500HP drilling rigs, personnel training, drilling operation, along with related technology transfer for the initial drilling of the 22 wells at Aluto-Langano Geothermal Energy Project.
The first exploration work at Aluto-Langano begain in 1981, and it started operations in 1998 with a production capacity of 7.3 MW until it was closed in 2018 due to technical issues.
Ethiopia, occupying the longest section of the 7,000-km Great East African Rift Valley, has a geothermal generation potential of up to 10,000 MW.
Source: Xinhua
