Verification of applied geophysical procedures to standardize protocols for geothermal exploration in Central America

Abstract

Although a large amount of geothermal exploration data exists in Central America since the 1960s, it has not yet lead to an even development of capacities in the region. Exploration methods and applied interpretations techniques did not evolve in many cases, due to a lack of knowledge exchange on a geoscientific level.To improve this situation, a verification of applied geophysical procedures will be developed by the InstitutoCostarricense de Electricidad (ICE, Costa Rica). Current international standards and updated approaches, including environmental aspects, will be taken into consideration to create guidelines on the application of geophysical methods for geothermal exploration in Central America. This is an important step to equalize the capacities of regional governmental institutions in the field of geothermal exploration and to enhance the comparability of geophysical exploration results in the region. The project is supported by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR, Germany) in the framework of the German Cooperation with the Sistema de IntegraciónCentroamericano (SICA) for the Identification of Geothermal Resources in Central America. The activities are in the conceptualization phase and a field campaign in the AOI Las Pailas II Geothermal Project is planned for the third quarter of 2018.