One of the best sources of renewable energy in Nicaragua, the San Jacinto-Tizate Geothermal Project at Telica in the Department of León is on target to produce an additional 10MW of electricity in the fourth quarter of this year with the Polaris Geothermal Plant Expansion.
The San Jacinto-Tizate project in northwest Nicaragua, about 100kms North West of Managua, is situated in one of the highest quality geothermal reserves in the world.
Polaris
The Canadian company; Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. is the company behind the Jacinto Project in Nicaragua and the new Binary Power Plant. (Toronto; PIF.TO)
They recently announced that with a total investment to date of almost US $20 million in the Polaris Geothermal Plant Expansion, it was “on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022”.
Polaris started the Jacinto project with a 10MW power plant project in March 2005. Further expansion increased production to 72MW when it became fully operational in December 2012. Polaris recently changed their name from Polaris Infrastructure Inc. to Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. “to more accurately depict the company’s operations”.
Binary Geothermal Production
In a Binary cycle geothermal power plant, the hot water from deep underground is used to heat a second fluid in a heat exchanger which keeps the two fluids separated. The vapor from the second or “working fluid” (with a lower boiling point than water) is used to turn turbines that create the electricity. The hot water is then injected back into the ground to be reheated and reused.
Renewable Energy in Nicaragua – Statistics
On the day of publication, electrical energy from geothermal production accounted for 18% of the day’s total electricity production from renewable energy.
When added to the other methods of production (biomass 14%, wind 13.5%, hydroelectric 17% and solar 1.3%), renewable energy production accounted for over 63% of total, with the traditional bunker fuel and diesel power plant production providing the remaining 37%.
The 2022 Year to Date (YTD) figure for renewable energy is 67%.
(Source; Centro Nacional de Despacho de Carga – CNDC)
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