Icelandic Expertise Concerning Geothermal Heat to Support the Government of Nicaragua

“Uncertainty concerning energy is, according to the Government of Nicaragua, one of the main obstacles to development in the country. Rationing of electricity is a daily occurrence and yet the country’s possibilities to harvest geothermal heat are enormous and we are going to help the government to build up manpower to utilise the geothermal heat,” says Gísli Pálsson, ICEIDA’s Country Director in Nicaragua.

The decision has been made to undertake a five-year development project in Nicaragua to support the knowledge and training under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and the Environment. Scientists from Iceland GeoSurvey will mostly provide the expertise knowledge. Preparations for the project have been going on since 2005. “In the initial request from the Government of Nicaragua regarding a bilateral cooperation with Iceland a special emphasis was put on the development and increased utilisation of geothermal heat in the country,” says Gísli. “The project is also in agreement with the Icelandic Government’s emphasis on renewable energy and development aid in areas where Icelanders have special experience and knowledge."

Gísli says that the energy production in Nicaragua mainly comes from diesel stations with accompanying exhaust and cost. It can be said that there is a crisis situation concerning energy in the country because the demand for electricity is so much that it has to be rationed almost daily. “Lack of expertise knowledge at the administration level in Nicaragua has been a hindrance to the country utilising the geothermal heat that is here. The authorities want to increase the amount of renewable energy in the country’s energy production and believe it to be important to increase the knowledge in this field. We are going to assist in the development of manpower in this important field,” says Gísli.

The cost of the project as a whole is estimated to be just over four million US Dollars.