Toshiba to Work With Djibouti to Develop Geothermal Power

(Bloomberg) -- Toshiba Corp., the world's biggest supplier of geothermal turbines, plans to work with the government organization responsible for developing geothermal power in Djibouti, to promote the energy source.

The Tokyo-based company and the Office Djiboutien de Developpement de l'Energie Geothermique, or ODDEG, signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the African country's geothermal resources and provide training for plant workers, Toshiba said in a statement Tuesday.

Toshiba will help ODDEG put together guidelines for plant operation and management and for developing and supplying generation systems, according to the statement.

Djibouti, which currently relies on thermal power plants at home and hydro electricity from Ethiopia, has plans for about 50 megawatts of geothermal power projects, according to the statement.

Toshiba has supplied equipment for projects in countries such as the U.S., the Philippines and Iceland, the company said in the statement. In December, Toshiba concluded a similar agreement with Tanzania Geothermal Development Co.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Iain Wilson, Abhay Singh