The geothermal power plants, operated by the company LaGeo, are located in Ahuachapán and in Berlín, in western and south-central El Salvador of the country. The first has been in operation for 35 years and the latter for 17 years, while both contributed up to 26% of the total energy mix in June 2009.
The installed capacity of the Ahuachapán geothermal power station, in the department with the same name, is 95 MW, while it has an average generating capacity of 58 MW, representing 61% of the total installed.
Meanwhile, the installed capacity of the Usulutan plant in Berlín is 66 MW, while it can produce 109 MW of power per hour.
Prospecting for a third plant is focusing on the municipality of Chinameca, San Miguel, although LaGeo’s Chiarman, Napoelón Guerrero, has revealed that work is also progressing in San Pablo Tacachico, La Libertad, where he said three wells are already in production.
In the first three months of 2009, geothermal energy generated 22% of the electricity required by El Salvador. This generation data was supplied by the Transaction Unit (UT), an entity that manages the El Salvadoran electricity market.
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