Geothermal Energy Potential in North Central Nigeria

Abstract

This research focuses on using geothermal parameters of Curie point depth, geothermal gradient and heat flow from spectral techniques of aeromagnetic data in finding the possible geothermal potential zone existing around parts of North central Nigeria to solve the energy –related challenges facing the country. The study region is confined by latitude 9.00o to 10.00o N and longitude 7.00o to 9.00o E, with an estimated total size of 24, 200 km2. The study used a qualitative and quantitative approach to examine depth estimates from the spectral analysis of the magnetic anomalies. The Total magnetic intensity map was divided into twenty - eight overlapping blocks, each block was subjected to spectral analyses to obtained centroid depth (Zo) and depth to top of basement (Zt) obtained from the plots, were used to calculate the Curie point depth (CPD), which was then used for computation of geothermal gradient and heat flow of the area. The results computed shows that, Curie Point Depth (CPD) depth, ranged from 3.449 km and 19.31 km with an average depth of 9.196 km, The geothermal gradient ranged between 30.03 oCkm-1 to 168.16 oCkm-1 with average of 70.98 oCkm-1 while the heat flow ranged from 176.24 mWm-2 to 262.77 mWm-2 with an average value of 178.17mWm-2 respectively. It was observed from the contour maps that the highest Curie Point Depth is located at the southern part at a depth of 18.5 km, while the northern part has the lowest Curie Point Depth at a depth of 14.5 km which corresponds to Gitata and Naraguta areas. The findings indicate that the research location is unsuitable for geothermal energy due to the high anomalous nature of heat flow.