| Abstract |
This paper describes the work done and conclusions of the geothermal master plan study did West JEC from March 2010 to February 2012 under the financial assistance to the government of Peru from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Prior to the activities of this project, the geothermal potential for power generation in the Republic of Peru was estimated in 3,000 MW or higher and in spite of this high potential till today there is no any geothermal field in exploitation in the country. The Master Plan for Development of Geothermal Energy in Peru was devised in order to provide the government of Peru with revised figure of the potential to generate power from geothermal resources and based on this potential to do an analysis of how geothermal energy could be introduced into the existing plans for renewable energy resources to participate in the energy mix of the country. The study was based upon a nationwide geothermal reconnaissance and in the detailed study of the power development plan for Peru to combine the results into a strategy to promote an accelerated geothermal energy development and exploitation program in Peru. The nationwide reconnaissance helped to identify a large number site with hydrothermal indicators of which after several steps of screening, the number of sites of geothermal interest was reduced to 61. The geothermal potential in Peru was estimated in 2,860 MWe using the geothermal characteristics of these 61 sites. The regions with abundant geothermal resources were found to be in southern part of Peru. A mid/long-term vision for the energy mix strategy was devised and in which 1,000 MW of power participates in the energy chain by 2030. Considering the public sector, it is desirable that governmental organizations such as DGE and INGEMMET streamlines their organizations in the promotion geothermal energy and in the capacity building of Peruvian human resources while others players, such as Electroperú S.A are also expected to be directly involved. To promote geothermal development through the current FIT system inducing the private investments, it is desirable to set the base FIT electricity price as high as possible. However, will mean an impact onto the electricity tariff to consumers. To avoid this effect, it is desirable to implement other means of assistance and incentives to develop geothermal energy. Although efforts have been made by the government of Peru after the formulation of the Master Plan, as of May 2014 only a few private companies make some progress in their geothermal development projects but still in the early stage of exploration. More aggressive contribution of the governmental organizations into the geothermal exploration and development is desired to promote the utilization of geothermal energy in Peru. |