Reservoir Management at the Miravalles Geothermal Field, Costa Rica

Abstract

The Miravalles Geothermal Field has been continuously exploited since 1994. The total installed capacity has reached 163 MW, accounting for about 8% of Costa Rica's total electrical production and it has become the foundation of the electrical supply in the country. The reservoir has evolved since the start of its massive production, and different actions and strategies have been implemented for sustaining the steam supply to the power plants and for reservoir management. These include monitoring of reservoir characteristics, accounting of mass production rates, numerical modeling, production and reinjection pipeline network design, designing and implementing the silica scaling inhibition and acidic fluids neutralization systems, maintenance and replacement wells programs, work-over and drilling and casing perforation.