Mauritius looking into possible geothermal power development
Peter Both Mountain on Mauritius (source: Commons/ Wikimedia)
Alexander Richter
5 Mar 2010
Mauritius off the coast of Madagascar to the West of Africa is looking into the production of electricity from geothermal resources. Initially it is planned to drill exploration holes of about 3,000 meters depth.
A recent article from Africa is talking about that “The Council of Research of Mauritius is currently working on two major projects: the production of electricity from geothermal sources and the exploitation of sea weeds for commercial purposes.
The Executive Director of the Council, Arjoon Suddhoo, told PANA here that the country was interested in exploiting other sources of power beyond solar and others.
“We are working on it and the result promises to be a good one,” he said, explaining that the project involves drilling a hole about 3 km deep to reach some very very hot rocks.
“Then you pour some water on them and you get some steam with which you can use to produce electricity,” said Mr. Suddhoo, who said he is convinced that such a project should work well given tha t Mauritius is a volcanic island.
“We are excited by this idea of having a source of renewable energy, non pollutant and unlimited, and which is available 24 hours a day,” he added.
He said the Council was also working on the exploitation of seaweeds, whose potential is enormous in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Mauritius.
“We have so big a space that we can use to our advantage and where there are sea weeds whose applications are enormous in cosmetics, aquaculture and food industry. We have begun working on the proprieties of seaweeds and we find them very promising. These are very important sources of magnesium, calcium and phosphate,” the official said.”
Source: Afrique en ligne
