Skip to main content

RFP: Surface Studies Meru Geothermal Field ~Northern Tanzania

Request for Proposal: Surface Geothermal Studies for Meru Geothermal Field in Northern Tanzania

By:Robert Buluma

Image: Tanzanian Elephants cruising through North Tanzania insearch of water and much greener savanna

The renewable energy sector in East Africa is experiencing rapid growth, with geothermal energy emerging as a cornerstone of sustainable development. Among the region’s most promising geothermal sites is the Meru Geothermal Field in Northern Tanzania. To unlock this resource's potential, a Request for Proposal (RFP) has been issued for surface geothermal studies, inviting experienced firms and consultants to participate.

Just a few hours we were hot with news for Songwe Geothermal call for investors , getting into this current status at Meru its obvious Tanzania is not mincing when it comes to tapping the heat beneath our feet.

Objectives of the RFP

The key objective of the RFP is to conduct detailed surface geothermal studies to evaluate the resource potential of the Meru Geothermal Field. The study will focus on identifying and mapping geothermal reservoirs to support future drilling and development initiatives. The scope of work includes:

Geological Surveys: Mapping surface geological features to identify fault lines and geothermal structures.

Geochemical Analysis: Sampling geothermal fluids and gases, including hot springs and fumaroles, to analyze reservoir chemistry.

Geophysical Surveys: Employing advanced techniques such as resistivity surveys, magnetotellurics (MT), and seismic methods to define subsurface reservoirs.

Environmental Baseline Studies: Assessing potential environmental impacts and ensuring alignment with sustainability goals.

Resource Assessment: Estimating the geothermal potential and providing recommendations for future development.

This wont be the first time TGDC is seeking for Tenders, so its evident there is a well structured plan on how this will be executed.

Qualifications for Bidders

Interested firms or consultants must demonstrate proven expertise in geothermal exploration and have completed similar projects in comparable terrains. Key requirements include:

1.Technical Expertise: Proficiency in conducting geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies using modern equipment and methodologies.

2.Regional Experience: A strong understanding of geothermal exploration in East African rift systems or other volcanic terrains.

3.Team Composition: A multidisciplinary team of qualified professionals, including geologists, geochemists, geophysicists, and environmental scientists.

4.Regulatory Compliance: Adherence to local and international standards for environmental protection and safety.

Strategic Importance of the Meru Geothermal Field

Tanzania is prioritizing the development of geothermal energy to diversify its energy portfolio and enhance energy security. The Meru Geothermal Field holds immense potential to supplement the national grid, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

By harnessing geothermal resources, Tanzania can secure a stable, low-carbon energy supply, promoting economic growth and resilience in the face of climate variability. The successful execution of this project will set a benchmark for geothermal development in the region.

Companies like Toshiba have already set foot in Tanzania an indicator that Tanzania could be a Geothermal powerhouse.

 Proposal Submission and Timeline

Interested parties are encouraged to review the detailed RFP document, which outlines submission requirements, evaluation criteria, and key deadlines. Proposals must provide a comprehensive approach to achieving the project’s objectives and demonstrate the capacity to deliver high-quality results within the specified timeframe. The RFP document can be accessed here. And EOI Submitted climateactionafrica@alineainternational.com as email. 

This is so unique that it entices individual bidders as well as companies however with a foot in Canada.

The Time Frames are stipulated as follows:

Clarity: 17th January,2025

Submission Deadline: 31st January,2025

Award of Contract: 7th February 2025

Source:Climate Action Africa

Connect with us: LinkedIn ,X


Comments

Hot Topics

Blowout at Cape Station: Fervo Energy’s First Major Crisis After Blockbuster IPO

Just weeks after a record-breaking IPO, the flagship project of the "geothermal unicorn" faces its first major operational crisis. By : Robert Buluma   Beaver County, Utah – The morning of May 27, 2026, began like any other at the Cape Station construction site in rural Utah. Workers for Fervo Energy, the newly public darling of the renewable energy world, were engaged in the complex task of drilling deep into the Earth’s crust to unlock what the company promised would be the future of 24/7 clean power. But by the afternoon, the routine had turned into a crisis. The site had experienced a blowout—an uncontrolled release of fluid or pressure from a well. For any energy company, a blowout is a serious matter. For Fervo Energy, which had just raised $1.89 billion in a blockbuster Nasdaq debut two weeks prior, it represents an immediate stress test of its technology, its safety protocols, and its $7.7 billion market valuation. While the well has since been contained and no injur...

Eavor Geretsried Geothermal Breakthrough: Inside the Closed-Loop Energy Revolution, Drilling Challenges, and Path to Scalable Clean Power

The Geothermal “Holy Grail” Just Got a Reality Check: Inside Eavor’s Geretsried Breakthrough By: Robert Buluma   May 22, 2026 It’s not every day a deep-tech energy company publishes a detailed technical report that openly documents what went wrong on its flagship project—and still comes out looking stronger. That’s exactly what Eavor Technologies did with its Geretsried geothermal project in Bavaria, Germany. The result is unusually transparent: part technical post-mortem, part validation of a technology many have doubted for years. And the core message is simple. They built it. It works. But it wasn’t smooth. The short version Eavor is trying to solve one of geothermal energy’s hardest problems: how to produce reliable heat and power anywhere, not just in rare volcanic hotspots. Their claim has always been bold: a closed-loop geothermal system that is scalable, dispatchable, low-carbon, and independent of natural reservoirs. Critics have long argued it wouldn’t survive...

Eavor steps back from operator role in the Geretsried geothermal project

Eavor at the Crossroads: What Geretsried Really Tells Us About the Future of Closed-Loop Geothermal By Alphaxioms Geothermal Insights | May 13, 2026 For years, Eavor Technologies was the geothermal sector's most talked-about enigma. The company raised hundreds of millions of dollars, attracted backing from heavyweights including BP , Chevron , Helmerich & Payne , and Temasek , and made bold promises about a proprietary closed-loop technology that would quietly revolutionise how humanity extracts heat from the earth. But it rarely said much in public. The secrecy was, to many observers in the geothermal community, a feature rather than a bug — protecting intellectual property, managing competitive intelligence, buying time. Now, Eavor is talking. And what it is saying is worth listening to very carefully. In an exclusive interview published on May 13, 2026, by GeoExpro editor Henk Kombrink, Eavor's new president and CEO Mark Fitzgerald — who took the role in October 2025 ...

GEN Electric Grid Impact Study RFP in Framingham Massachusetts Advances Utility Geothermal Networks

GEN Electric Grid Impact Study RFP Signals a Defining Moment for Geothermal Energy Networks in the United States By: Robert Buluma The United States geothermal sector is entering a new phase, one where geothermal systems are no longer being viewed only as sources of heating and cooling, but increasingly as strategic infrastructure capable of strengthening the electric grid itself. In one of the most important emerging developments in utility-scale thermal network deployment, the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET), in partnership with Eversource Gas, has officially launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a groundbreaking Electric Grid Impact Study focused on Geothermal Energy Networks (GENs), also referred to as Thermal Energy Networks (TENs). Backed by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under grant “DE-EE0010662.0002 Home Energy Efficiency Team Utility-Managed Geothermal Pilot in Framingham, Massachusetts,” the initiative represents far more than a local energy pilot. It is...

Rodatherm Energy: The Refrigerant Gambit

By: Robert Buluma   Rodatherm Energy has done something no other geothermal startup has attempted at commercial scale: swapped water for refrigerant in a closed-loop system. The claim is 50% higher thermal efficiency than water-based binary cycles, achieved by circulating a proprietary phase-change fluid through a fully cased, pressurized wellbore. The company emerged from stealth in September 2025 with a $38 million Series A—the largest first venture raise in geothermal history. Lead investor Evok Innovations was joined by Toyota Ventures, TDK Ventures, and the Grantham Foundation. The engineering thesis is elegant. The execution risks are significant. This is an Alphaxioms examination of both. II. The Thermodynamic Distinction Every geothermal company you've covered moves heat using water or steam. Rodatherm moves heat using a fluid that boils and condenses inside the wellbore. In a conventional closed-loop water system (Eavor's model), water circulates as a single-phase liq...

Steam and Silence: Why Ethiopia's Geothermal Promise Remains Unfulfilled

Steam and Silence: The Uncertain Fate of Ethiopia’s Geothermal Revolution By : Robert Buluma   Despite sitting on a volcanic rift valley with over 10,000 MW of clean energy potential, Ethiopia produces just 7.3 MW of geothermal power—enough to power a small town, but a fraction of what the nation needs. For a country long dependent on hydropower (which fluctuates with drought) and biomass (which degrades forests), geothermal offers the dream of steady, 24/7 baseload energy. However, as investigations into the flagship Aluto Langano and Tulu Moye projects reveal, the road from geological promise to actual megawatts is fraught with technical failure, financial gridlock, and conflicting narratives. The Ghosts of Aluto Langano The story begins and, in some ways, remains stuck at Aluto Langano. Developed by the former EEPCO (now Ethiopian Electric Power/EEP), this site is a textbook case of high potential meeting harsh reality. The resource itself is world-class. Data confirms a high-te...

Baseload Capital launches new geothermal power plant in Japan, expanding its presence in the country’s untapped geothermal sector

Bill Gates-backed Baseload Capital has commissioned its second geothermal power plant in Japan, marking further expansion into a market with significant untapped geothermal resources. By : Robert Buluma   Image :  Kazuyuki Akaishi, manager at Furusato Netsuden and Anders Helling, CEO at Baseload Capital. Press photo ., Credit :  Imapct loop The Waita Model: How a Swedish-Backed Startup Just Cracked Japan's Geothermal Code KUMAMOTO / STOCKHOLM — In the misty highlands of Kumamoto Prefecture, on the southern island of Kyushu, a quiet revolution in renewable energy has just switched on. On June 4, 2026, Stockholm-based  Baseload Capital officially commissioned its second geothermal power plant in Japan: Waita No. 2. While a 4.995 MW facility might seem modest compared to a nuclear reactor or an offshore wind farm, the financial and political ramifications of this event are seismic. For decades, Japan has been described as the "Saudi Arabia of geothermal." The archipel...

Ormat’s Ormega100: How the World’s Largest 100 MW Binary Unit Is Industrializing Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)

The Geothermal Tipping Point: Ormat’s 100 MW Bet on an Engineered Earth By: Robert Buluma   An Analysis of the Ormega100 and the Industrialization of Enhanced Geothermal Systems In the quiet corridors of the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, amid the hum of the World Geothermal Congress 2026, a threshold was crossed. It wasn’t marked by a flashy prototype or a speculative white paper. Instead, it came in the form of a press release from Reno, Nevada-based Ormat Technologies —a company that has spent six decades drilling, building, and operating quietly in the background of the renewable energy boom. The announcement was deceptively simple: Ormat unveiled the Ormega100, a 100 MW binary power generation unit designed specifically for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Buried beneath the technical jargon of heat exchangers and working fluids lies a seismic shift in energy economics. For the last twenty years, the renewable energy narrative has been dominated by the intermittency pro...

Data-Driven Site Selection in Nevada Pushes SLB and Ormat's EGS Development Forward

Breaking Ground Below: How Data-Driven Site Selection in Nevada Is Unlocking the Next Generation of Geothermal Energy Published: June 9, 2026 | By Robert Buluma   In the high desert of northern Nevada, where the sagebrush gives way to volcanic rock and the heat beneath the surface has long been a whispered secret, a quiet but profound shift is underway. It is not marked by the dramatic collapse of a coal plant or the sudden rise of a solar farm, but by something far more subtle: the deliberate, data-driven selection of a patch of earth known as Desert Peak. On June 9, 2026, SLB and Ormat Technologies announced that Desert Peak has been selected as the preferred location for a planned enhanced geothermal system (EGS) pilot. This decision, the culmination of a rigorous multi-site evaluation across several of Ormat’s existing geothermal fields, marks a critical inflection point. It is the moment when enhanced geothermal—long a theoretical promise of limitless clean energy—begins it...

U.S. House Passes Rep. Yassamin Ansari’s Bill to Standardize Geothermal Leasing on Federal Lands

Digging Deep: How Arizona’s Lawmakers Are Unlocking Geothermal Energy in the Desert By Robert Buluma   Published: June 7, 2026 When we think of Arizona energy, two images usually come to mind: endless rows of solar panels baking under a cobalt sky, and the slow turn of wind turbines on a distant mesa. But deep beneath our hiking boots and the tires rolling across I-10, another, far more potent energy source has been waiting—quietly, consistently, and 24/7. That source is geothermal energy. For decades, Arizona has been a sleeping giant in the geothermal world. We have the heat, we have the geology, but we lacked the political traction. That changed dramatically last week. This isn’t just another energy headline. This is a quiet revolution happening beneath the surface of American energy policy. Let's dig in. The 45-Second Spark: What Actually Happened? Before we dive into the deep technical and political magma, let’s recap the concrete news. According to the report, two significant...