The water at the springs is always boiling at 100 degrees and is often used by locals to boil eggs and food like potatoes, cassava and green bananas. It has also been found to contain varying amounts of minerals and chemicals with medicinal value, among them, Sodium chloride, potassium chloride, Lithium Sulphate, calcium sulphate, calcium phosphate, and magnesium chloride.
The government plans to increase hydropower generation from the current 825 Megawatts to 2500 Megawatts in the next two years or 2020. Two flagship large hydropower projects are under construction. Karuma is expected to produce 600 MW while Isimba will have 180 MW of power generated.
Uganda is gearing up towards hosting the inaugural Future Energy Uganda conference where it is expected to showcase the enormous energy investment potential. The inaugural conference in Kampala from 12-13 September 2017 is expected to attract investors and decision makers to explore areas of renewable energy like geothermal and solar that are still under exploited.
The report finds that some of the African countries like Kenya, Rwanda and twelve others are already tapping into renewable energy to power their energy needs.
Uganda has not utilized its geothermal energy potential because of high exploration and investments costs. The costs may soon go down with a new tool launched to help countries investigate their geothermal potential.
Officials from the Climate Technology Centre Network (CTCN) confirmed that Uganda's Ministry of Energy asked for technical support over the potential of beginning geothermal power generation in areas of Buranga, Kibiro and Panyimur.
Under the arrangement, University lecturers and students will be financially supported to participate in high level exchange programs in European Union countries in order to produce Africa\'s new generation of quality renewable energy engineers and technicians.
Bukenya Matovu, the Public Relations Officer for the Energy Ministry, says that the government doesn’t have a timeline for the development of the sector yet, because it is waiting on private investors to express interest in the industry.