| Title | Geothermal Country Update for Ecuador: 2020 - 2023 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bernardo Beate, Matilde Urquizo, Andres Lloret, Mateo Acosta, Elena Angulo |
| Year | 2023 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Ecuador, geothermal plays, Chachimbiro deep drilling, first GSHP, Geothermal Roundtable, Ecuadorean Geothermal Association |
| Abstract | Ecuador's massive geothermal potential remains largely unexploited. Government policies, according to the Master Plan for Electricity, aim to develop renewable resources, including geothermal, to substantially reduce the use of fossil fuels. The current electric energy mix is dominated by hydro (58.47%), fossil fuels (39.23%) and other (2.31%) with a total installed generation capacity of 8734.41 MWe. The gross energy production is 32206.88 GWh/yr (as of Jan. 2022), where 26088.42 GWh are from renewables and 6118,46 GWh are from fossil fuels. The high enthalpy exploration potential of Ecuador is given by six geothermal plays to be considered for its geothermal potential (theoretical): 1.Galápagos Rift, 2.Galápagos Hot Spot, 3.Northern Andes, 4.Southern Andes, 5.Coastal Fore-arc basin, and 6. Oriente Foreland basin. Chachimbiro, located in play #3, is the first priority prospect among eleven in the Geothermal Plan launched by the government in 2010. It has completed the prefeasibility stage, and a successful deep exploration well. The wellhead is located at 3460 masl presenting BTH of 235°C. It was drilled with the help of non-reimbursable funding and technical cooperation of JICA to CELEC EP, the institution in charge of high temperature geothermal resources. A follow up 2nd stage at Chachimbiro, to be funded by a government to government loan through JICA, is envisioned for drilling 5 additional appraisal wells and for the installation of a 5MWe wellhead unit, both to be tendered by CELEC under JICA regulations; positive results would aim for a 50 MWe power plant. Three high temperature prospects, all in play #3, namely Chacana-Jamanco, Chacana-Cachiyacu and Tufiño-Chiles, and one low temperature prospect, Chalpatán, are almost ready for deep exploratory drilling. The other six prospects are Chalupas, Chimborazo and Chacana-Oyacachi (all in play #3), Guapán and Baños de Cuenca, both in play #4 and Alcedo (in play #2), which are awaiting government funding to complete prefeasibility studies. Utilization of geothermal energy is still restricted to direct uses in swimming pools (5.16 MWt and 102.4 TJ/yr for annual utilization). Nevertheless, the IIGE, which is in charge of the development of low temperature geothermal resources, has started the operation of the first greenhouse powered by GSHP with a horizontal ground loop. The IIGE also launched the study of the use of low to medium temperature geothermal resources in the country's energy mix, including the Geothermal Resource Map, which was done with the technical support of CEGA in the framework of the government to government agreement with Chile. IIGE main near-future developments include i) the study for a geothermal desalination plant in Galápagos, ii) studies for a hybrid solar/geothermal grain dryer, and iii) analysis for geothermal heating using PCR (phase change materials) for urban and rural buildings, among others. Preliminary studies targeting prospective reconditioning of Oil and Gas wells for geothermal production and direct uses in the Oriente Basin (Play 6) have been undertaken. An important new action is the set-up of the Geothermal Roundtable, and of follow-up studies for the determination of the geothermal potential in prospects of the Ecuadorian territory and its inclusion in the energy and productive matrix. The roundtable and studies are due in june 2022 by MERNNR (Ministry of Energy and Non Renewable Resources) and are funded by the IDB (Interamerican Development Bank, ca. 10 MUSD), and will determine the road map of the future development of geothermal resources in Ecuador for the next decade. Finally, 2021 saw the birth of The Ecuadorian Geothermal Association (AGE), which has joined efforts with similar entities of Mexico, Colombia, Perú, Chile, and the IGA for pushing forward the development of geothermal resources in the region, and aims at becoming the memory and official voice of geothermal in the country. Along with this effort, Ecuador also counts now with its WING (Women in Geothermal) branch, with worldwide contacts in the geothermal industry. |