African governments are committed to the development of renewable energy sources to meet large percentage of their energy requirements as part of their strategy to achieve the intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Hydropower contributes the largest share of electricity consumed in many countries in Africa, however, with challenges of climate change, new focus areas needs to be put in place to ensure sustainable production and economic development of new hydropower projects.

On the other hand, geothermal energy is seeing new growth impetus as it is climate neutral, baseload, low cost, and abundant source of power for many countries located along the East African rift system. Despite the efforts to meet generation targets, transmission and distribution challenges have continued to hinder electricity access to millions of Africans.

The three-day virtual workshop, therefore, will provide an opportunity to share knowledge, case studies, technologies, financing, O&M, and environmental and social issues for the development of hydropower and geothermal energy projects.

Key discussion points will include the contribution of geothermal energy in the continent’s energy mix and direct use. But the primary goal of the conference will be to promote the use of geothermal resources for power generation and direct use as a low-cost source of energy to address most of the SDGs. The conference will also propose new focus areas for hydropower generation to play a critical role in meeting energy requirements of the continent through new technologies.