| Abstract |
Ecuador is located on the active convergent plate margin of Southamerica, which is characterized by a broad continental volcanic arc with abundant active volcanoes and intense seismicity. Earlier geothermal exploration, carried out from the mid 1970’s to the earlier 1990’s by government institutions with the aid of foreign technical assistance programs, defined a combined theoretical potential of about 500 MWe for the three most promising geothermal prospects, namely: Tufiño-Chiles, Chalupas and Chachimbiro, located in the highlands of central-north Ecuador. A dozen of other geothermal prospects, related to silicic calderas, or to evolved stratovolcanoes, or even to evolved basaltic shields, like Alcedo in Galapagos, will substantially increase the inferred potential; low to medium temperature resources are abundant along the volcanic arc. Low to medium temperature resources are abundant along the volcanic arc and are mainly related to recent NNE strike-slip faulting and local pull-appart structures; these geothermal resources are not confined to the volcanic highlands, but are also present in the fore-arc plains as well as in back-arc areas, mostly related to deep cutting basement faults. Utilization of geothermal energy is now restricted to direct use in swimming pools (5.157 MWt and 102.401TJ/yr for annual utilization) and to a very small extend, in space heating. Nevertheless, government policies are strongly aimed to develop renewable energy resources including hydro, wind, solar and geothermal, to lessen or even eliminate the use of fossil fuels for power generation. The leading agencies are the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (MEER) and CONELEC (National Council for Electricity); substantial public funding has been allocated through MEER for geothermal exploration and eventual development. Energy market is domminated by Hydro (51.7 %) and Fossil Fuel (44.0 %) generation, with a total installed capacity of 4557 Mwe, putting up a gross electricity production of 18609 GWh/yr (as for Dec 2008). The remainder percentage corresponds mainly to imported energy (650 MWe from Colombia and Peru). The increase in power demand is about 150 MWe per year. Production from renewable energy sources in Ecuador, mainly solar and wind, is still negligible (2.42 MWe), but is planned to increase in the future, including geothermal. The Tufiño-Chiles geothermal prospect owns the especial status of Bi-National Project, due to its location on the Ecuador-Colombia border. The political decission to go geothermal has been taken by the Ecuadorean government and initial public funds have been allocated since late 2008. MEER already completed the first geothermal gradient exploration hole, ever, in Ecuador, on the Tufiño prospect, to a depth of 554 m and final diameter NQ (76 mm). Chachimbiro has been allocated 1 MUSD for geophysical exploration starting 2009 and reconnaissance geological and geochemical surveys are underway in Chacana-Papallacta prospect. This and several other high and low-medium temperature geothermal prospects in Ecuador await state and private investment to be developed in order to lessen the dependance on fossil fuel use. Finally, in Ecuador, geothermal energy is challenged to be cost-efficient in front of an abundant hydro resource, as well as to be environmentally safe. |