Latin America and the Caribbean

Source: IRENA statistics

*Includes Mexico

*Excludes Guadalupe

*More information on specific geothermal power plants can be found HERE

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Peru
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) - an association of electrical energy solution providers and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry in the Caribbean region, Central and South Americas and globally, which supports its members by providing industry-related services and creating regular networking, training and knowledge-sharing opportunities; it supports mutual assistance programmes and accelerates the Caribbean region’s energy sector transition through innovation and advocacy.

Centre of Excellence for Geothermal Energy of the Andes (CEGA) - a Fondap-Conicyt project comprising a team of researchers from the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and other international institutions, working towards improving and expanding scientific knowledge on geothermal resources in Chile, with a focus on: heat sources; fluid and isotopic geochemistry; heat-fluid-rock interaction; structural controls and geophysics; and reservoir architecture and modelling.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – a regional financial organisation for Latin America and the Caribbean that supports the countries through financial and technical assistance; its main areas of focus are social inclusion and equality, productivity and innovation, and economic integration; the cross-cutting issues it considers in its operations are gender equality and diversity, climate change and environmental sustainability, and institutional capacity and the rule of law.

Mexican Centre for Innovation in Geothermal Energy (CeMIEGeo) – a consortium of universities, scientific research institutions, and public and private companies with the objective of promoting and accelerating the use and the development of geothermal energy in Mexico.

Organisation of American States (OAS) – a regional organisation bringing together all 35 independent states of the Americas as well as 69 permanent observer states and the European Union; fostering integral development is one of its functions, which is implemented by the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) through programmatic areas such as sustainable energy, sustainable cities and climate adaptation.

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) - an 11-member grouping comprising the full member states of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, with the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe as associate members; the OECS Energy Unit works to identify and shape policy to encourage the use of indigenous and alternative energy sources such as geothermal, solar and wind and to ensure they are economically competitive to support economic growth.

CDB GeoSmart Initiative – a programme by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) jointly funded with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through the Sustainable Energy Facility for the Eastern Caribbean (SEF-Expanded programme) – a facility to promote geothermal power in the five eastern Caribbean nations of Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines; the three components of the facility include: developing geothermal power plants and transmission lines, exploration drilling and capacity building.

El Salvador Geothermal Centre of Excellence – a programme created to increase local knowledge and skills on aspects of geothermal development, such as potential exploration, planning and utilisation, with a focus on Latin American countries; the programme is domiciled at the University of El Salvador and co‑ordinated in conjunction with the National Board of Energy of El Salvador, LAGEO and GRO GTP.

Geothermal Development Facility for Latin America (GDF) – a 10-year risk mitigation multi-donor scheme initiated in 2016 to promote geothermal development by the private and/or public actors in Latin America; the facility supports geoscientific studies and test drilling to confirm existence of a geothermal resource; its target is to catalyse the development of at least seven geothermal projects with a combined capacity of 350 MW minimum.

Geothermal Initiative in the Andes (2013–2015) – a technical assistance project supported by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with Latin America Energy Organization (OLADE) and the International Geothermal Association (IGA), to improve the legal, financing and capacity frameworks of the Andean countries of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; expertise for these activities is drawn from France, Iceland, Mexico and New Zealand.

GRO – Geothermal Training Programme (GRO GTP) Sustainable Development Short Course – an annual training course facilitated by Iceland’s GRO GTP to build geothermal technical capacity in the region within a limited timeframe to contribute to the realisation of SDG 7; the course targets young engineers and scientists who are active or potential employees in the geothermal industry in the region.

Identification of Geothermal Resources in Central America (2016–2020) – a project by the German Federal Institute of Geoscience and Natural Resources (BGR) to advise the geothermal stakeholders in Central America on geothermal exploration and the interpretation, management and provision of geothermal data.

Promotion of Geothermal Development in Central America (2016–2020) – a project of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); the Central American Integration System (SICA) is the project’s lead implementing agency for promoting enabling frameworks for geothermal development, supporting technical and economic feasibility of geothermal projects through pilot projects, supporting capacity building, promoting regional dialogue and creating a network of geothermal experts to provide advisory services; part of the wider Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (4E III) in Central America programme by GIZ.