Description
The “Short Course on Geothermal Drilling, Resource Development and Power Plants” was organized and conducted by the United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme (UNU-GTP) and LaGeo S.A. de C.V. in Santa Tecla, El Salvador on January 16-22, 2011. It is part of the UNU-GTP Millennium short course series for Central America. The course had been scheduled for late 2010, but was postponed until after the holiday season for organizational reasons.
The series has included both general topics and more specific subjects that are relevant at various stages of a geothermal project cycle. The aims of the Short Course on Geothermal Drilling, Resource Development and Power Plants were the following:
- To bring participants up to date on the state of affairs in the geothermal sector in Latin America and the West Indies.
- To disseminate and share knowledge on drilling technology, well testing and resource assessment.
- To disseminate and share knowledge on the types, sizing and configuration of power plants and address common problems that surface in their operation.
- To address financial and environmental issues that arise in the exploitation of geothermal resources.
- To discuss the future of capacity building for enhanced geothermal development in Latin America and the West Indies and the possibility of establishing a geothermal training programme for the region with contributions from the UNU-GTP, LaGeo, a local university and the Inter-American Development Bank.
The main lecturers/presenters for the short course came from, El Salvador (11), Iceland (6), Costa Rica (2) and the Philippines (1), while contributions where also given by Mexico (1) and Nevis (1), and some of the other participating nations.
A record number of participants were registered at the short course, 62 in all, including from Central and North America: Costa Rica (6), Guatemala (2), Honduras (5), Nicaragua (13), Mexico (3) and the home country El Salvador (23). From the Caribbean Islands: Dominica (2) and Nevis (2), and from South America: Colombia (5) and Ecuador (1). The course was very well received.
This was the first time that Colombia and Ecuador participated in events given by UNU-GTP. The tendency has been for the Millennium short course series to reach a broader audience with every year that passes and the participation of South American countries in addition to Central America, Caribbean Islands and Mexico is a manifestation of that trend. It is anticipated that more South American countries may take part in the following years, as geothermal resources are abundant along the Andean mountain range.