geothermal in south america - major prospects

Geothermal in South America - Major Prospects for Development

A rather long article by renewableenergyworld.com, but a good read nonetheless. This article provides some of the backstory and context of geothermal development in South America and highlights the projects by EHR in Argentina and ENEL in Chile as frontrunners in the race to claim the kudos of being the first in South America.

Of interest is the mention of the EUR$0.37 / kWh feed in tariff for Argentinian geothermal projects (for the first 15yrs of operation) at the top of the article and the mention at the bottom of p.2 of the article of World Bank estimates of geothermal costs being approximately US$0.05 / kWh.

What is the exchange rate from the euro to US dollars? A quick check ... EUR$1.00 = US$0.81. So, a EUR 37c FiT = US$0.30 / kWh. That's pretty damn good. Did I read this correctly? A 30c / kWh FiT = US$300 / MWh.

Woahhh!! We've been basing our calcs on US$120 / MWh for revenues.

Please tell me if I've made a mistake somewhere, because I might just burst with excitement if this is true.