Geothermal Education Program in El Salvador Through SATREPS Project

Abstract

Geothermal power generation in El Salvador started in the '70s, with over 40 years of history. Nowadays El Salvador has been promoting the introduction of renewable energy. Actually, one-quarter of domestic generated electricity comes from geothermal plants, which are a crucial role in energy demand. However, the civil war, which started in 1979 and ended in 1992, had seriously damaged human resources. It is urgent to recover human resources in the country. University of El Salvador (UES) is one of the key players for human resource development. Geology is the foundation for promoting geothermal development, but unfortunately, there is no school for education/research specializing in geology/mineralogy/geothermal exploration at UES. This is one of the challenges to aim the above-mentioned geothermal exploration and development. Tohoku University-centered group in Japan (Iwate University, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Geothermal Engineering Co.,Ltd), UES, and LaGeo (national company) have agreed to launch a cooperative research project. The SATREPS project, Thermoluminescence Techniques in Geothermal Exploration and Integrated Evaluation System of Geothermal Reservoir. Through this project, we are making efforts to develop human resources.