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GDF awards $15m in exploration and drilling support for 7 geothermal projects in Latin America

GDF awards $15m in exploration and drilling support for 7 geothermal projects in Latin America GDF Program for Latin America - EOI for 2nd Call (source: GDF)
Alexander Richter 24 Oct 2018

The Geothermal Development Facility (GDF) for Latin America has awarded total funding of EUR 13 million ($15 million) supporting surface studies and exploratory drilling for seven geothermal projects in Chile, Peru, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

The Geothermal Development Facility for Latin America’s (GDF) has concluded its second call and has announced the awardees for grants under the program.

The GDF program has announced the seven grantees, including projects across Central and South America.

Under the scheme, EUR 13 million have now been approved under this second call, or around 23% of the GDF’s initial EUR55 million fund ($63 million). The expectation is that the funding will catalyze EUR 1.6 billion ($1.84 billion) in future investment into geothermal development in Latin America. The total anticipated amount of geothermal power generation capacity to be supported through the first and second call under the GDF scheme is expected to reach 520 MW.

Five geothermal projects will receive up to EUR600,000 (USD 690,000) for surface studies in Chile, Peru, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Two geothermal projects in Chile and Guatemala will each receive up to EUR 5.8 million ($6.7 million) for exploratory drilling campaigns.

The third call for applications under the GDF scheme is scheduled in December 2018, with which all participants hope to surpass the original goal of supporting up to 350 MW of geothermal development in the region. With the early success and continued interest, as well as government reforms toward renewable baseload and geothermal power, there are discussions on the possibility of increasing its funding beyond the initial EUR55M seeded by KfW and the European Union.

Source: GDF Latin America