| Abstract |
El Salvador is one of the pioneering countries in geothermal energy in Latin America. Gifted with favourable geological conditions, efforts to utilise geothermal resources for power supply in El Salvador date back to 1950s, when Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL) took the leadership on geothermal development. Currently, LaGeo, a subsidiary company of CEL created in 1999, operates the two existing geothermal power plants with total installed capacity of 204 MW, which accounts for 24% of the national electricity market. With its extensive geothermal history, CEL-LaGeo employs many experts working in the field. The vast technical, scientific and managerial capacities have been shared through various courses and workshops to young professionals from El Salvador, Latin America and the Caribbean in cooperation with the Geothermal Training Programme of the United Nations University (UNU-GTP). In addition, the 5-month Geothermal Diploma Course for Latin America has greatly contributed to make El Salvador a reference country as a center of excellence for geothermal energy in the region. This academic project resulted from an important cooperation agreement signed in 2016 by CEL-LaGeo and UNU-GTP to jointly implement a study programme carried out by Salvadoran and Icelandic experts. To date, a total of 689 professionals from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Montserrat, Nevis, Nicaragua, Peru, San Vincent and El Salvador have taken part in the geothermal short courses and the Geothermal Diploma Course imparted in El Salvador. This report describes the academic project and its positive results, lessons learned and future activities. |