News

A milestone in the history of the UNU-GTP was the “Workshop for Decision Makers on Geothermal Projects and their Management” organized by UNU-GTP and KenGen at Lake Naivasha (Kenya) 14-18th November 2005, in co-operation with UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and ICEIDA (Icelandic International Development Agency). Six countries with good geothermal potential in East Africa have decided to join forces and increase their cooperation in geothermal research and development, within the African Rift Geothermal Facility (ARGeo). The UNU-GTP has accepted to play a leading role in guiding and implementing the capacity building component of ARGeo. The Workshop was the first step in the capacity building process.

The closing ceremony of the 27th annual session of the UNU-GTP was held on October 28th 2005. Twenty UNU Fellows from 11 countries completed the traditional 6 month specialized courses. They came from China 4, Djibouti 1, Egypt 1, El Salvador 2, Ethiopia 1, Eritrea 1, Indonesia 2, Iran 2, Kenya 2, Russia 3, and Uganda 1. They received specialized training in: Geological Exploration 2, Borehole Geology 1, Geophysical Exploration 1, Borehole Geophysics 1, Reservoir Engineering 3, Chemistry of Thermal Fluids 3, Environmental Studies 3, Drilling Technology 1, and Geothermal Utilization 5.  During 1979-2005, 338 scientists and engineers from 39 countries have completed the annual six month courses. Of these, 44% have come from countries in Asia, 26% from Africa, 16% from Central and Eastern Europe, and 14% from Latin America. There have been 53 women (16%).

The UNU policy to support the participation of former UNU Fellows in the WGC every five years has encouraged a large number of professionals from all continents to share their research results and experience with the international geothermal community. Their enthusiasm and hard work gives them the opportunity to keep up with new technical developments as well as the pleasure of meeting friends and colleagues from various parts of the world, reminisce about the past, and plan for the future.

The UNU-GTP Yearbook for 2004 is now ready for printing, and all the reports are now available on our website in a pdf form (see Yearbook 2004).  The yearbook will distributed by post as soon as possible.

Mr. Younes Noorollahi from Iran (UNU Fellow 1999) defended on 19th January 2005 his thesis on the application of geographical information systems and remote sensing in environmental management of geothermal fields under exploitation. The thesis is entitled ”Application of GIS and remote sensing in exploration and environmental management of Namafjall geothermal area, N-Iceland”, and has been published by the UNU-GTP (see Yearbook 2005). 

For the first five weeks, the UNU Fellows attend an intensive introductory lecture course on most aspects of geothermal research and development. There are two written tests in the course. Their specialized training starts on 20th June. They will specialize in the following lines of training: Geothermal Utilization 5, Environmental Studies 3, Chemistry of Thermal Fluids 3, Reservoir Engineering 2, Borehole Geophysics 2, Geological Exploration 2, Borehole Geology 1, Geophysical Exploration 1, and Drilling Technology 1. The outline of the specialized courses is given under Training - Specialized courses.