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Chile’s Ministry of Energy seeks international help to increase geothermal development

Chile’s Ministry of Energy seeks international help to increase geothermal development Cerro Pabellon geothermal power plant, Chile (source: ENAP)
Alexander Richter 5 Oct 2018

Chilean Government is working with the World Bank and IDB on removing technological, regulatory and market barriers for the development of geothermal projects, including a possible technical assistance and guarantee fund for exploratory risk.

In a seminar organized by the Geothermal Council of Chile this week, Minister for Energy of Chile Susana Jiménez indicated that her government is working with the World Bank and the IDB to remove technological, regulatory and market barriers for this energy source.

The Minister of Energy , Susana Jiménez, highlighted the opportunities that geothermal energy has to offer with greater force in the national energy matrix, with large-scale projects and low enthalpy utilisation for district heating in the cities. She affirmed her government’s ” full confidence in the contribution of geothermal energy, because we have the conviction that this technology has all the potential to increase its participation in the matrix, both in electricity generation and in direct uses in the residential and productive sectors “.

The authority inaugurated the seminar “Chile: Transformative Leadership in Energy Sustainability”, organized by the Geothermal Council, where national and international specialists discussed the sustainability of this energy resources and their contribution to the system as part of the Non-Conventional Renewable Energies (NCRE).

Jiménez reported that the Ministry of Energy “is executing, together with international organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a technical assistance and a guarantee fund for the application of geothermal exploratory risks that points to the removal of technological, regulatory and market barriers, in order to trigger in Chile the large-scale development of geothermal energy, whether it is high or low enthalpy. ”

Geothermal Council

Jerónimo Carcelén, President of the Geothermal Council, the representation of geothermal developers and companies holding development concessions, also highlighted the potential of this energy source, because it has the capacity of basic electricity generation, with high power factors, adding that it is also “safe, flexible and renewable”.

The executive highlighted the realization of the seminar because they addressed issues inherent to geothermal energy, such as its relationships with the environment, the mitigation of climate change, its contribution to energy efficiency, the social impact of low enthalpy projects and the promotion of other activities, such as forestry, agricultural and tourism businesses “.

Source: Electricidad, revistaeic