Short Course on Geothermal Exploration and Development in El Salvador

The UNU-GTP and the Organization of American States (OAS) held a short course on geothermal exploration and development in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, November 7-12, in cooperation with LaGeo S.A. de C.V.  The course is a part of the Geothermal Training Programme‘s series of tailor-made short courses that answers a growing need for geothermal capacity building beyond the financial means of the programme.  The short course was brought about at the intitiative of the OAS in order to support geothermal development in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and the financing also came from the OAS. Participants came from Colombia (3), Ecuador (3), Peru (3), Chile (1), Costa Rica (1), and El Salvador (3).

The objective was to present a general overview of the most important aspects of geothermal exploration and development. The short course was divided into the following sessions: geothermal energy overview, geothermal project planning, geoscientific exploration and drilling, power generation and direct use of geothermal energy, environmental impact of geothermal activity, and geothermal law and regulatory framework.  One day was reserved for a field trip to the Berlin geothermal power plant, where the participants had the opportunity to observe the processes, equipment, and structures needed for geothermal electricity generation first hand.

The Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), under which this initiative falls, has published an article about the course on its website: http://ecpamericas.org/news/default.aspx?id=281