After 7 years of waiting, the Government of President Daniel Noboa signs a credit agreement for the Chachimbiro Geothermal Project

The following is a machine translation of a Ministry of Energy and Mines release

After seven years of waiting, the Field Development Phase of the Chachimbiro Geothermal Project, with a capacity of 50 megawatts (MW), is finally moving forward. The project was promoted by the government of President Daniel Noboa Azin, after the signing of a credit agreement for approximately USD 43 million with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Inés Manzano, said that “the signing of this contract marks the beginning of a new stage in our commitment to the development of clean, stable, non-conventional and resilient energies, through the Chachimbiro Geothermal Project.”

This project has not been developed in recent years due to the lack of sovereign guarantee from the Ecuadorian State to obtain the loan. However, the current administration has prioritized the continuity of projects that contribute to changing the energy matrix.

The new geothermal power plant of the project will be built in the Urcuquí – Imbabura canton. Its first phase involves an approximate investment of USD 80 million, which will be covered with a loan from the Government of Japan and the own funds of the Electric Corporation of Ecuador CELEC EP. The works include the drilling of five wells with a production diameter (four producers and one for reinjection) and the installation of a pilot plant of up to 5 MW.

CELEC EP general manager Gustavo Sánchez said that “projects such as Chachimbiro aim to reduce dependence on rainfall for electricity. In this case, the internal heat of the earth will be transformed into electricity for the New Ecuador.”

Likewise, the Japanese ambassador to Ecuador, Morishita Keiichiro, said that the objective of supporting “the implementation of this project in Ecuador is to reduce the vulnerability generated by depending on hydroelectric energy; with the purpose of diversifying energy sources and increasing the capacity for generating electricity.”