Superhot Rock Geothermal in Tanzania

The document highlights that just 1% of Tanzania's estimated superhot rock geothermal resource could provide 31 GW of capacity, far exceeding the country's 2021 electricity consumption of 8,665 GWh. While unlikely to meet 2030 climate goals, the technology could replace all coal and gas in electricity production, reducing emissions by approximately 3 megatonnes of CO2eq. The report emphasizes the technology's low land footprint (12 km² per 1 GW) and its potential to address energy poverty for the 80-90% of Tanzanians lacking electricity access.

• Preliminary modeling by the Clean Air Task Force and the University of Twente indicates that Tanzania possesses significant superhot rock resources. Specifically, 1% of this resource could provide 31 GW of energy capacity, generating over 258,252 GWh of electricity, which is 30 times the country's 2021 electricity consumption.
• Superhot rock geothermal could support Tanzania's low-carbon energy strategy by replacing all coal and gas used for electricity production. This would reduce carbon emissions by approximately 3 megatonnes of CO2eq, representing 2% of Tanzania's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goal of 153 megatonnes by 2030, although the technology is unlikely to reach commercial scale by 2030.
• The technology is characterized by high energy density and low land requirements. Producing 1 GW of superhot rock geothermal is estimated to require roughly 12 km² of land, which is significantly lower than natural gas (160 km²), solar (180 km²), offshore wind (520 km²), and biomass (14,000 km²).

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). Superhot Rock Geothermal in Tanzania. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22145203/Tanzania-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Superhot Rock Geothermal in Tanzania. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22145203/Tanzania-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Superhot Rock Geothermal in Tanzania |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22145203/Tanzania-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendsuperhot, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Superhot Rock Geothermal in Tanzania}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22145203/Tanzania-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }