LaGeo contributes to 24 percent of the electricity in El Salvador, where geothermal has been one of the main sources of electricity since the mid-1970s.Today the total installed capacity by LaGeo from geothermal resources in the country is 204 MWe, (Ahuachapán 95 MWe, Berlin 109 MWe) representing about 15 percent of total installed capacity in the country. During 2003-2007, a third single flash condensing unit went on line (for about 44 MWe) along with a pumping station to reinject the hot brine.
In order to improve the whole thermal efficiency of the complex, a first binary unit was commissioned in 2007 as bottoming stage. Turboden ORC unit will operate with the hot separated brine from a group of wells, without requiring extra drilling, recovering heat at 172°C before reinjection.
This new bottoming plant will further contribute to the country’s renewable base-load generation, increasing the savings of CO2 emissions.
Paolo Bertuzzi, Turboden CEO, said, “There are about 5 GWe of operating single flash plants in the world. With this new project we see a big potential for our company to integrate its technology with existing geothermal plants, making them more efficient, with no additional drilling required. This first plant in Central America is a great result for us, after the successful start-up of the 14 MWe Lightning Dock unit in New Mexico."
