The Despoblados Plant in Argentina would cost $92 million and could generate up to 23 MW
Valle del Cura, San Juan, Argentina (source: Geotermia Andina)
Francisco Rojas
19 Sep 2013
Geotermia Andina holds 20% of the project and has made public that the budget would be around $92 million with an installed capacity of about 23 MW
In the area of Despoblados, the provincial government has decided to install a geothermal plant, after the good results yielded after the first exploration phase. Geotermia Andina has made public the tentative budget: about $92 million for an installed power of 23 MW; considering that today it is paid around $4 billion per megawatt installed, according to the head of the firm Giorgio Stangalino.
The mining company will provide with 100% of the money in the exploration phase. The second phase will begin this October and end in July 2014, with a cost of $12 million. The financial equation has diagrammed the Government to take the big leap to the farm tour in the Joint Venture (JV ) , a tool that is also key from the technical and logistical .
Despoblados has potential and has always been important but the issue here was the lack of demand. Now the demand is close since there is a mine “Veladero”. This makes this project viable from the economic perspective, which is key to moving forward ,’ said Stangalino , the representative of Geotermia Andina.
The Canadian mining is the main partner of this joint venture because it is also interested in replacing diesel, used nowadays which is very expensive, for a cheap and environmentally friendly source. As explained Dona, Veladero mine currently has an energy demand of 17 megawatts. This same source explained that ” if this (demand) expands, moving to other points with geothermal potential near Despoblados is possible (a total of 5: Los Bañitos, El Goyete ,San Crispin, El Chollay and Casa Pintada), and the construction of an electrical grid will be studied to connect it to the main network”
Source : The Journal of Cuyo and PEG
