Chile Geothermal Risk Mitigation Program (MiRiG)

In 2013-14, the government obtained USD 53 million from the "Clean Technology Fund" (CTF), of which USD 50 million were designated to the Risk Mitigation Programme in geothermal exploration (MiRiG), implemented by IADB and USD 3 million to a technical assistance programme, implemented by the World Bank. In 2015, the government and CTF agreed to add another USD 25 million to MiRiG. The World Bank contributed an additional USD 500 000 to the technical assistance project, from the Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

The MiRiG is being implemented with the Cerro Pabellon project as the first beneficiary (it belongs to the Empresa Geotermica del Norte S.A., a company created by Enel Green Power and the National Oil Company, ENAP). Two other projects, Mariposas (EDC) and Licancura III (Transmark), were also selected. The World Bank has been working, with ESMAP ficing, on the technical assistance programme since March 2015 on the following topics:

• Technical documentation and/or regulatory support.
• A technological visit to Nicaragua under the framework of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169 and the consultation process for geothermal exploitation applications.
• Call for a study to assess how to co-ordinate the Chilean geothermal industry to contract drilling equipment and services efficiently.
• Creation of the Geothermal Energy Working Table, a public–private entity that aims to analyse the systemic impact of geothermal energy development on the interconnected electrical systems, as well as potential benefits and co-benefits in the short and long term, and the tools needed for its development.

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