Central America and Caribbean with estimated 6,000 MW of potential
Berlin geothermal power plant of La Geo in El Salvador (source: Enex)
Alexander Richter
22 May 2013
The overall geothermal power generation capacity in Central America and the Caribbean is estimated at about 6,000 MW, so a report by the Geothermal Regional Training Center in El Salvador.
A recent report prepared by the Geothermal Regional Training Center in El Salvador estimates a potential for 5,000 MW in geothermal power generation capacity in Central America.
According to studies, it is estimated that Latin America and the Caribbean have a potential of 6,000 megawatts of geothermal power generation, of which about 43% is in Central America. Of that Nicaragua alone has a potential of 2,000 MW. The Geothermal Training Center is promoted by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and has the cooperation of the Inter-American Development Bank and was created under the framework of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program in Central America.
The Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) allocated about $ 2.2 million in grants to El Salvador to establish the next training center for Latin America and the Caribbean on geothermal energy. The National Energy Board of El Salvador (CNE ) provides expertise on renewable energy and, as co-executor, the University of El Salvador (UES) will be responsible for managing the Geothermal Training Courses.
The program will help to improve the capacity of both institutions in the sustainable development of geothermal training in El Salvador. IDB created three-level specialization courses that are taught in the UES between 2013 and 2015. Through this program about 10 Salvadoran participants will receive scholarships and 10 scholarships will go to participants from other countries.
The UES gained experience in this field in 2010, and together with the Italian Cooperation LaGeo conducted a pilot graduate specialization in the field of geothermal energy. Further taken into account for selecting El Salvador as a training center were that there are two areas that are currently generating power from geothermal energy, one is in the area of Berlín y Ahuachapán, with an installed capacity of 204 megawatts and an annual net generation of 1.421 GWh.
The projection of the Italian Cooperation estimated that El Salvador has a geothermal potential of additional 440 MW, which could bring the total geothermal power generation capacity to a total of 644 MW.
Source: Universia (in Spanish)
