Cluff Geothermal complete resource assessment at Fantale, Ethiopia

18th April 2017

Cluff Geothermal Limited (CG), a subsidiary of Hotspur Geothermal Limited, has completed a pre-drilling resource assessment within the Fantale Geothermal Licence Area, Ethiopia. CG’s aim in Ethiopia is to explore for, finance and generate electricity to be sold into the Ethiopian grid under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Ethiopian Government.

High quality magnetotelluric (MT) data gathered from over 240 stations, alongside gravity and magnetic survey data, and water and gas sampling analysis, has concluded that the area is likely to host a geothermal resource of greater than 100 MWe. Alongside our in-house technical team, CG has worked with Quantec Geoscience, the British Geological Survey and GeothermEx to complete the detailed resource assessment, with all geoscientific work peer-reviewed by Jacobs Consultancy.

George Percy, Managing Director of Cluff Geothermal commented, “this is a really positive outcome for both Cluff Geothermal and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It is highly likely that a large exploitable geothermal resource exists at Fantale. Subject to securing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ethiopia Electric Power, we are ready and eager to deploy our considerable technical expertise and resources towards a drilling campaign and eventually produce clean, renewable and affordable base-load power for the Ethiopian grid.”

CG has been a recipient of funding from the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) for exploration activities at Fantale. The company has been awarded over US$850,000 for surface exploration and over US$3.8 million for exploration drilling. The GRMF is a body supported by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), the German Government and the European Union. To date, CG has invested over US$2 million into the Fantale Geothermal Development Project and is anticipating an exploration drilling programme costing in the region of US$30 million following successful PPA negotiations.