Geothermal energy
As a renewable form of energy with consistent availability, geothermal energy offers great potential for making the energy supply more sustainable and independent.
Current projects
Due to their geographical location in tectonically and volcanically active zones, many development cooperation partner countries have great potential for tapping into geothermal energy for the supply of electricity and heat. Their advantage is that this energy - once tapped - is always available on a constant basis and does not depend on short-term fluctuations, like wind and solar energy.
Its utilisation is often associated with high investments in exploration, drilling and power plant construction, but smaller deposits are often already known, e.g. from hot springs, and can be used directly to supply neighbouring communities with process heat.
Depending on the deposit, valuable salts can also be separated from the extracted hot fluids as by-products, e.g. lithium, which is of great importance for electricity storage technologies. Germany is promoting the development of geothermal energy in some countries through the transfer of expertise and the geophysical investigation of promising areas.