Geothermally Sourced Combined Power and Freshwater Generation for Eastern Africa (Combi-Gen)

在非洲大部分地区，特别是埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚，缺乏安全和清洁的水是一个长期存在的挑战。埃塞俄比亚约有5000万人无法获得安全用水，该国目前正遭受50年来最严重的干旱，约1800万人需要紧急援助。同样，肯尼亚约4700万人口中只有41%能获得安全用水。尽管有大量未开发的可再生资源，埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚都是能源贫乏的国家。埃塞俄比亚有大约2千兆瓦的发电能力，只能满足全国10%的电力需求，也只能满足12%的人口。肯尼亚的装机容量只有2.2吉瓦左右，电网连接较好，覆盖了大约55%的家庭，但仍然受到频繁、长时间停电的困扰。在这两个国家，地热能都没有得到充分利用，这代表着一个令人兴奋的机遇，可以解决能源挑战，减轻贫困，促进经济发展。Combi-Gen项目旨在开发一种新的地热发电和淡水发电技术，该技术有望在工程应对埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚能源短缺和水资源短缺的双重挑战方面发起真正的创新转变。这项研究将提供一种新技术，可以显著改善埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚宝贵地热资源的利用，并且可以同时生产电力和淡水，以解决两国和其他类似国家长期存在的水和能源短缺的双重挑战。一旦发达的Combi-Gen系统得到广泛安装，它将通过可靠的可再生能源和淡水生产促进可持续发展，并通过促进经济发展和就业增长减少贫困。Combi-Gen解决了GRCF确定的一些关键发展优先事项，这些优先事项涉及健康、清洁能源、安全用水、可持续农业和包容性增长基础等挑战。该项目的核心是解决与“可持续基础设施发展”相关的挑战。对地热的关注与两国政府发展可再生和可持续能源以满足两国电力需求的能源政策重点在战略上是一致的。

Lack of safe and clean water is a long-standing challenges in much of Africa, and especially in Ethiopia and Kenya. Around 50 million people in Ethiopia lack access to safe water, and the country is currently suffering from its worst drought for 50 years, leaving some 18 million people in need of urgent aid. Similarly, only 41% out of the Kenyan population of ~ 47 million have access to safe water. Despite substantial undeveloped renewable resources, both Ethiopia and Kenya are energy poor. Ethiopia has around 2 GW of electricity generation capacity, meeting only 10% of national electricity demand, and reaching only 12% of the population. Kenya, with an installed electricity capacity around only 2.2 GW, has better grid connectivity, reaching about 55% of its households, but is still plagued by frequent, lengthy outages. In both countries, geothermal energy is vastly under-utilised and represents an exciting opportunity of addressing energy challenges, alleviating poverty, and promoting economic development. The Combi-Gen project aims to develop a novel geothermally sourced-combined power and freshwater generation technology, which promises to initiate a genuinely innovative shift in the engineering response to the twin challenges of energy shortage and water-scarcity in Ethiopia and Kenya. The research will provide a novel technology that can significantly improve the utilisation of the precious geothermal resources in Ethiopia and Kenya, and can produce both power and freshwater simultaneous to address the long-standing twin challenge of water and energy shortage in both countries and others of this kind. Once the developed Combi-Gen system is widely installed, it will contribute to sustainable development through reliable renewable energy and freshwater generation, and a reduction in poverty through promoting economic development and employment growth. Combi-Gen tackles a number of key priorities for development identified by the GRCF that relate to challenges of health, clean energy, safe water, sustainable agriculture, and foundations for inclusive growth. The core of the project is to tackle challenges associated with 'Sustainable infrastructure development'. The geothermal focus is strategically aligned with the government energy policy priorities on developing renewable and sustainable energy to meet power demand in both countries.