Proceedings, 7 th African Rift Geothermal Conference Kigali, Rwanda 31 st October – 2 nd November 2018 Market Opportunities for the Direct Use of Low Temperature Geothermal Heat in Uganda Faith Natukunda, Pall Valdimarsson Institute of Water and Energy Sciences, Pan African University faith.natukunda@yahoo.com, pall.valdimarsson@gmail.com Keywords Fluid temperature, economic activity, direct use, market, Uganda ABSTRACT As a country, Uganda has a growing interest to diversify its energy mix from dependency on hydro power and traditional biomass. Prospects for the exploitation of the existing geothermal potential are therefore not only in power generation, but also direct use applications, although geothermal development is still in the preliminary stages. This study places emphasis on the range of opportunities for direct use of low temperature geothermal heat in Uganda. Because the transportation of heat over long distances is uneconomical; it is advisable to utilize the heat within a given radius of its source. In this study, the areas within such radii where geothermal activity is witnessed were assessed based on; fluid temperature, climate, population as well as main economic activities to better understand the market opportunities for the heat that will be extracted. Some of the more outstanding geothermal fields were studied; from which it was observed that out of the diversity of sectors for investment, agriculture-based industries; agricultural drying and milk pasteurization, pose higher opportunities for success given the available sources of raw materials. It would however be important to carry out a detailed industry specific market analysis at the feasibility phase for a better understanding of the development of the selected industries for implementation. 1. Introduction The geothermal potential of Uganda was initially estimated to be 450 MW, McNitt (1982), however, current estimate is put at 1, 500 MW, Bahati (2016). Although the actual use of this potential has not yet been realized, plans are underway to use this energy for electricity generation and direct use applications in some locations. Presently, electricity generation is an important motivation for geothermal exploitation owing to the low rate of electrification in the country as well as the need to minimize the country's dependency on hydro power. The country however has a broad range of areas that require not only electricity, but process heat as well. The economy of Uganda is dependent on agriculture and has many industries for processing agricultural products. This means that there is a broad range of industries that