On March 24, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the Government of Bolivia to provide a Japanese ODA loan of up to 61.485 billion yen for the Laguna Colorada Geothermal Power Plant Construction Project (Second Stage).
The project will meet the growing power demand, contribute to diversification of the energy matrix and mitigate the impact of climate change through the construction of a 100-megawatt geothermal power plant, transmission lines and incidental facilities in Sol de Mañana, which is located in the Department of Potosí in southwest Bolivia, thereby contributing to the economic development of Bolivia. The loan funds will be allocated to civil work such as well drilling, the construction of the geothermal power plant and incidental facilities and consulting services as second stage of the project following the Laguna Colorada Geothermal Power Plant Construction Project (Phase 1 of First Stage), for which a Japanese ODA loan was provided in July 2014.
The potential for geothermal development has been confirmed in the Sol de Mañana geothermal field, and it is expected that such development would greatly contribute to the stable power supply, which is a long-standing development issue in the region which has no main power supply.
Seventy percent of the power supply in Bolivia is from thermal power generated using natural gas produced in the country. The geothermal power plant to be constructed in this project will be the first plant in Bolivia, therefore JICA has been providing technical assistance since 2010 for the purpose of promoting understanding and capacity building for the geothermal power plant and ensuring the smooth implementation of the project through the dispatch of experts. JICA will continue technical cooperation, such as organizational capacity building, toward successful completion of the project.
