Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2015 Melbourne, Australia, 19-25 April 2015 1 Mozambique and the Feasible Development of the Geothermics – a First Geochemical Survey Monia Procesi 1 , Alessandra Sciarra 1 , Daniele Cinti 1 , Fedora Quattrocchi 1 , Francesco Zarlenga 2 1 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy 2 ENEA, Rome, Italy monia.procesi@ingv.it Keywords: geochemical survey, geothermometry, geothermal energy, Northern Mozambique ABSTRACT Mozambique has an extremely low sustainable access to energy partly due to the high cost of extending networks and increasing the number of connections in remote and relatively low demand area using conventional technologies. In this framework, the development of the geothermal energy both in direct and indirect uses can represent an important goal even if, presently, it is totally unused. At present there are not ongoing geothermal exploration and exploitation projects in Mozambique for low and medium-high temperature but the government and international experts are only just beginning to study geothermal resources in Mozambique. The present work proposes, for northern Mozambique, a review on available data about thermal waters, including new collected data. A first geochemical survey was carried out in Northern Mozambique in March-April 2013, with the aim to investigate chemistry and origin of some thermal springs in the Tete Province. The investigated area is located in the East African Rift, adjacent to the marginal sedimentary Mozambique Basin. This area is crossed by the Rio Zambezi, one of the main river in Africa and explored during the 19th century by David Livingstone. A comparison with data from previous works was done. Many thermal springs are present in this province due to the proximity with the rift, but considerably little geochemical and geothermal studies have been done, due to the difficulties related both to the site accessibility and social interaction with local tribes. The examined thermal waters have temperatures between 42°C to 80°C and are classified as chloride-sulphate alkaline waters (Cl-SO 4 (Na, K)). Stable isotope δ 18 D and δD and the slight O positive shift, suggest the presence of evaporation processes for deep fluids in a high temperature system. The estimated temperature of the potential reservoir ranges between 180 and 220 °C, for the area of Tete and Morrumbala. The potential reservoir seem to be promising, in particular for the area close to Tete City and Morrumbala. Probably, the resource is in fractured rocks associated to anomalous heat flux, with a maximum value of about 110 mW/m 2 . 1. INTRODUCTION Mozambique is located on the southeastern coast of Africa and borders with Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa. The total area is about 800,000 km 2 and is divided into 11 provinces: Cabo Delago, Niassa, Niampula, Tete, Zambezia, Manica, Sofala, Inhambane, Gaza, Maputo Province and Maputo City. Mozambique suffers of the improper utilization of natural resources and access to energy in a sustainable manner remains extremely low. This situation is partly due to the high cost of extending networks and increasing the number of connections in remote areas using conventional technologies. The energy access is a prediction for economic development and social progress especially in the peri-urban and rural areas. Measures such as support programs for renewable energy related to energy efficiency need to be implemented in ways that will promote social and economic growth and sustainable development. In this framework the development of the geothermal energy both in direct and indirect uses can represent an important goal even if presently, it is totally unused. This paper presents a first review of available geochemical data relative to thermal waters located in Zambezia and Nampula Province, including three new springs sampled close to Tete City. Currently, this area is totally unexplored from the geochemical point of view. The study is specifically aimed at defining the origin of the emerging fluids and the potential temperature of the geothermal reservoir, based on major, minor and trace elements, isotopic signatures (δ 18 O, δD) and geothermometric evaluations. 2. STATUS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES AND FOCUS ON GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Mozambique’s potential for power generation has been estimated at 14,000 MW (85% of which is hydropower). More than 80% of the hydropower potential is located in the Zambezi Valley, including the existing Cahora Bassa Dam (Hankins, 2009). The above evaluations do not include solar, wind, biomass and geothermal. At 2005, the Cahora Bassa Dam had an installed capacity of 2,075 MW (Mahumane et al., 2012) and it is the primary electricity source for the country, as well as a key source for Southern Africa. However, due to lack of power transmission lines and distribution networks, the availability of hydroelectricity for the time being is largely restricted to urban areas. In other areas electricity is simply not available, and where it is available, it is supplied by diesel generators. Other renewable resources have been confined, for about 90% (Chambal, 2010) , to traditional uses (i.e. wood for cooking) and rarely to off-grid power supply sources (photovoltaic, wind) (figure 1).