El Salvador Chinameca Geothermal Project Launches Tender for Supervision of 8 Deep Well Drilling

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 6, LaGeo, El Salvador's national geothermal development company, issued a request for expressions of interest for drilling engineering technical supervision consulting services for the Chinameca geothermal field, procuring supervision services for the drilling and completion of 8 deep geothermal wells from qualified consulting firms. The works comprise 5 production wells and 3 reinjection wells, with the supervision scope covering drilling technology, construction operations, industrial safety, environmental management, and contract execution. The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is November 16, and the project is supported by a World Bank loan.

LaGeo is a subsidiary of El Salvador's Lempa River Hydroelectric Executive Commission (CEL) and is responsible for implementing the development of the Chinameca geothermal resources. This supervision service corresponds to the integrated drilling works previously put out for procurement, with the contractor's scope including drilling equipment, tubular goods, accessories, and other supporting services. According to the drilling procurement documents, all 8 wells will use directional drilling, with a designed well depth of approximately 1,800 to 2,200 meters, a borehole diameter of 12.25 inches, and 9.625-inch liners, and the integrated drilling contract is expected to be executed over 31 months.

The technical supervision consulting firm will perform the Engineer's duties in accordance with the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction (Red Book), 2017 edition, reprinted 2022, supervising the drilling contractor's construction quality, technical operations, safety and environmental measures, and undertaking contract management. The project requires the supervision firm to have experience in supervising 1,500 to 3,000-meter deep well works in geothermal or oil and gas fields, or experience in performing FIDIC contract Engineer duties, as well as experience in supervising environmental, social, and occupational health and safety management plans of international financial institutions.

In the qualification review, LaGeo will give priority consideration to consulting firms with geothermal well supervision experience, project experience in Central America, and certification of quality, environmental, and occupational health and safety management systems. Institutions with experience in implementing the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework will also receive positive evaluation. Applicants may participate in the qualification application through consortia or subcontracting cooperation, but the ultimately selected supervision firm must not have equity, commercial, or consulting affiliations with the drilling contractor it supervises.

This procurement is numbered SV-LAGEO-534014-CS-QCBS and will determine the final consulting service provider through a combined quality and cost selection method. Applicants must submit company qualifications, relevant project performance, and proof of technical capability, and expressions of interest documents should be delivered to LaGeo's procurement department by 10:00 a.m. El Salvador local time on November 16, 2026. The supervision contract is funded by the World Bank-supported "Sustainable and Inclusive Geothermal Energy Development Project," loan number 9788-SV.

The Chinameca geothermal field is located in San Miguel Department, El Salvador. LaGeo has previously launched a tender for integrated drilling services for 8 geothermal wells, planning to use newly drilled production wells to obtain geothermal fluids and to reinject separated geothermal water into the underground reservoir through reinjection wells. The geothermal power generation project under the development plan has a capacity of 25 MW, and this supervision consulting procurement is an independent procurement step prior to the implementation of the drilling works at this geothermal field.