Technical, economic, social, and environmental assessment of geothermal resources in Chile
Author: Alfonso Ignacio Mohor Alarcón
Year: 2023
Supervisors: Vijay Chauhan, Diego Morata C.
Abstract:
The tectonically and volcanically active Andes of South America, particularly in the Chilean latitudes, host numerous geothermal systems. Some of these systems are used to power greenhouses, heat small structures, and for electricity generation in the case of the Apacheta geothermal system, harnessed at the Cerro Pabellón geothermal power plant (81 MWe). Despite Chile's significant geothermal potential, many projects in the country have been abandoned or indefinitely stalled, with reasons often unclear.
This study proposes a novel methodology for quantitatively assessing four key aspects influencing the outcome of geothermal project development. The methodology integrates selected and adapted techniques from the literature to evaluate the technical potential, economic feasibility, social favorability, and environmental risks associated with the hypothetical development of standardized single-flash geothermal power plants in nine high-enthalpy geothermal systems in the Chilean Andes.
The proposal leads to the calculation of four normalized indices that represent each assessed aspect for the nine geothermal systems. These indexes facilitate the comparison of the potential for development of the systems under specific assumptions through favorability maps and rankings.
The main conclusions of the assessment point to the successful design and implementation of a quantification procedure for assessing technical, economic, social, and environmental conditions of geothermal resources. The study is able to identify the most and least development-suited resources among the nine cases based on the assessment's outcomes. Additionally, it highlights the importance of understanding the methodology and its assumptions for a correct interpretation of the results and acknowledges the need for further improvements to address the limitations and sources of imprecision identified during the research.