Ecuador and Colombia sign agreement on Tufino project
The authorities in Ecuador and Colombia have signed a cooperation agreement that will drive the geothermal project Tufiño-Chiles-Cerro Black with a potential of more than 100 MW.
The mountainous province of Carchi in the northern Andes of Ecuador is one of three areas of interest for geothermal development. The other two areas are Chalupas (Cotopaxi) and Chachimbiro (Imbabura), according to a study by Escuela Politécnica del Ejército (ESPE). ThinkGeoEnergy reported on the initiation of the work on a study earlier this year.
The study shows that the geothermal resource at Tufiño has a potential to generate 138 MWe. An initial binational agreement was signed last year by the authorities of Ecuador and Colombia. The development area covers an area of 4,900 ha.According to the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (MEER), the start of operations of the project will be in June 2018.
The planned power plant would exceed the demand of electricity generation capacity of 80 MW for the provinces of Imbabura, Carchi, northern Pichincha and Sucumbios.
This project is developed with the support of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and Electrical Corporation Ecuador (CELEC) and Public Service Company (Isagen) of Colombia that will drive business project. The start of the exploration phase of the project is expected to start soon.
Source: PiensaGeotermia