Prequalification begins for Ecuador geothermal plant

Ecuador’s state power corporation Celec issued a call to prequalify to advance the 50MW Chachimbiro geothermal project in San Miguel de Urcuquí, Imbabura province.

The process is for the engineering, supervision, construction and commissioning of a wellhead plant of up to 5MW as part of the project’s first phase.

Interested companies have until November 10 to register, after which prequalification terms will be sent to registered groups. Prequalification closes January 4 with an evaluation report due out in February.

Prequalification information is available in the Documents box in the top-right corner of the screen.

Start-up of what would be Ecuador’s first geothermal power plant is envisioned for 2028.

In recent days, the government signed an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency which will provide US$43mn in financing for the US$80mn project.