geothermal power plant projects in central america - Orkustofnun

egional reconnaissance in 1981identified 13 geothermal areas,of which 7 areas were selectedwith temperatures from 230 to300°C. Listed in order ofdecreasing priority they are:Amatitlán, Tecuamburro, ZunilI, Zunil II, San Marcos,Moyuta, and Totonicapán.Second priority areas with lowtemperatureresources are: LosAchiotes, Palencia, Retana,Ayarza, Atitlán, Motagua andIpala.3.1.2 El SalvadorEl Salvador is the largestproducer of geothermal energyin Central America (by year2010); the power plants Ahuachapán (95 MW) and Berlín (109.4 MW) supply approximately 25% ofEl Salvador’s electricity.Herrera et al. (2010) reported the temperatures of geothermal resources as being 250°C inAhuachapán, 300°C in Berlín, 230°C in San Vicente, 240°C in Chinameca, and there are severalresources below 200°C all along the volcanic chain. Depths range from as little as 600 m in theshallow areas of Ahuachapán, to about 2,800 m in the deep parts of Berlín. Pullinger (2009) reportedthat another area with a possible high enthalpy resource is the Coatepeque geothermal field, where aninitial pre-feasibility study in the mid 1990s identified a possible resource with temperatures of around220°C. Medium enthalpy resources such as Conchagua, Chilanguera and Obrajuelo geological,geochemical and geophysical field studies have identified resources with estimated temperatures of180 to 220°C.3.1.3 HondurasPlatanares is the only geothermal project under development in Honduras where performed studiesshowed that a potential of 35 MW could be achieved. Pavana and Azacualpa projects are under study.Lagos and Gomez (2010) reported that, in the evaluation of Platanares, higher temperatures between160 and 165°C were found at shallow depths and geothermometers suggested resource temperatures ofbetween 200 and 225°C. Updated studies show a potential of 23 MW in Azacualpa with temperaturesbetween 170 and 180°C, and 18 MW in Pavana with temperatures between 140° and 150°C. The maingeothermal areas identified during the surface exploration in the 1970s are Platanares, San Ignacio,Azacualpa, Sambo Creek, Pavana, El Olivar and El Tigre Island.3.1.4 NicaraguaMW2000180016001400120010008006004002000Costa RicaFIGURE 2: Central America: Installed geothermal electricitygeneration capacity (CEPAL, 2010) vs. most probable geothermalpotential (Lippmann, 2006)The Momotombo plant has 70 MW of installed capacity; however, there have been declines in theoutput levels. In year 2010, INE reported that the installed capacity available was 26.5 MW. SanJacinto Tizate (in year 2011) was operating at 10 MW and is under a two phase 72 MW expansion.In Momotombo, more than 44 exploration wells have been drilled (up to 2,500 m in depth),encountering temperatures in excess of 330°C (Mostert, 2007). Pullinger (2009) reported that in SanJacinto Tizate geothermal area, several wells were drilled (up to 2,200 m in depth) and confirmed theexistence of temperatures from 260 to 290°C; and in El Hoyo Monte Galán geothermal area,temperatures of 220°C (at 2,000 m) were identified. Zúñiga (2005) pointed out that there were morepromising geothermal areas: Managua-Chiltepe and Masaya-Granada-Nandaime. Other areas withEl SalvadorInstalled CapacityGuatemalaPotentialHondurasNicaraguaPanamá13