Probabilistic assessment of electrical potential of Tocomar Geothermal Field (Central Puna - NW Argentina) using volumetric method

FILIPOVICH, RUBEN; BARRIOS, ALFONSO; AHUMADA, MARIA FLORENCIA; CHIODI, AGOSTINA; BÁEZ, WALTER; GIORDANO, GUIDO; VIRAMONTE, JOSE GERMAN

Rotorua

Workshop; 39th New Zealand Geothermal Workshop; 2017

University of Auckland

Thegeological conditions along the Central Andes of South America allow theformation of geothermal fields of high, medium and low enthalpy. Despite thefact that Argentina has a high geothermal potential, the specific assessment ofthis resource is actually scarce. In this work, the first preliminary estimateof the geothermal potential of the Tocomar geothermal field for electricityproduction is presented. All the calculations were carried out using thereformulated USGS heat in place volumetric method, together with Monte Carlosimulations. The reservoir specific parameters required in the formulas were estimatedfrom geological, geochemistry and geophysical data, thus the results are for aninferred geothermal resource. Multiple iterations have been performed modifyingthe probability distribution of each assumption to produce different forecasts.We analysed the electric generation capacity of the geothermal reservoir with aprobabilistic approach due to the uncertainty level of each parameter and theexploration state of the project. The Tocomar geothermal field has a power production capacity between ~6MWe (P90) to ~56 MWe (P10). The recovery factor, as it is expected, is the mostsensitive variable in the estimation of the potential electric power generationand it has a linear correlation with the power output. The strategicgeographical position of Tocomar and its geothermal potential for powergeneration offer a promising scenario for the future development of this fieldthat could largely mitigate local socio-economic problems and provide an energyalternative allowing the exploitation of several mining projects (Li, Cu, Au,Ag) often economically unviable due to the lack of traditional energyresources.