Decarbonizing the energy sector is one of the most pressing challenges on the path to achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Generating more than 98% of its energy from renewable resources, Costa Rica is pioneering the way. This blog is written by a courageous individual who has dedicated her life to developing renewable energy sources. María de los Angeles Gálvez Orellana shares her personal journey from growing up in El Salvador to working with the pioneers of geothermal energy in Costa Rica.
I am a woman, wife, mother and professional. In geothermal studies, I have found my passion, the field I have been working in for more than twenty years. In Costa Rica, geothermal energy plays an important role in everyday life. Located at the Circum-Pacific Belt, also known as the “Ring of Fire”, Costa Rica is subject to a high level of volcanic activity. The Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), where I work, uses the potential of this volcanic activity to generate energy by extracting the internal heat of the Earth.
My job is to find the steam that is used for generating electricity by drilling deep wells. I work with a team of professionals from different disciplines to understand, with our different approaches, the geologic environment in order to model the geothermal system, so that we can reach the deposit through deep perforations. This geothermal energy is a renewable and climate-friendly source of power, available around the clock and regardless of the season. I am happy each time that we find vapour because it means that all this time we spend on studying the country’s geology and exploring the geothermal deposit finally pays off; not only for us, but for the country that has become my second home.
I grew up in El Salvador in a family of seven. In my youth, I played basketball, which taught me that one has to fight tirelessly to achieve what one desires. My mother worked outside the house and, following her example, all her daughters pursued a career in the university. I started my career pursuing a degree in chemical engineering. When I was in my third year, I got a job in a chemical laboratory where we ran analyses of geothermal waters. This work in the laboratory was the entry gate that lead me to dedicate my work and thoughts to renewable energy.
For the following six years, I worked at the Hydraulic Commission of Lempa River in El Salvador in the field of geothermal studies. Fascinated with the issue, I decided that I wanted to go back to university to study geology. At the time, in 1985, there were very few geologists in El Salvador, which is why I decided to pursue my academic interests in Costa Rica. It was there that I fell in love with the process of searching for, extracting and putting to use this renewable source of energy from inside our planet.
In Costa Rica, I had come to the right place. Since its creation in 1949, the ICE had been charged with the electrification of the country using renewable sources. Until today, hydropower remains the countries major source of electricity. Nonetheless, since the late 1970s, there had been the first studies to find geothermal deposits. I joined ICE for four years in the 1990s and have been part of its efforts to identify locations to extract hydrothermal energy again since 2008.
The work has changed significantly since the early days. In the beginning, many were skeptical about the very idea of extracting geothermal energy. In addition, many feared that the exploitation of the planet’s heat would harm the environment, as many of the high-enthalpy geothermal fields required to extract energy are close to national parks. We have come a long way since then. Today, each step in the production of geothermal energy is monitored to ensure that all environmental requirements are met. The most fascinating project for me was developing Las Pailas II geothermal power plant, which went into operation in 2019, because we were in a rich environment surrounded by local animals. It reminded me that our daily work needs to be a commitment to nature.
Regarding the supply of electricity, Costa Rica has reached a milestone in its pursuit to power the country with energy from renewable sources. For five consecutive years, from 2015 to 2019, more than 98% of all electricity produced in Costa Rica was renewable. Geothermal energy now constitutes the third-largest resource with a share of 13.5% of the national electricity mix. Such transformations would not be possible if it had not been for figures like Dr. Alfredo Mainieri Protti, leader and father of geothermal energy in Costa Rica, who taught the first working groups and inspired me and many others to pursue geothermal energy as a sustainable source.
I have come to see Costa Rica as my second home because it is the place that has embraced me as a student and given me the opportunity to develop in a professional way. It is where I found my partner, who has walked by my side for thirty years, and three wonderful children. And it is where I have had the opportunity to help explore a major source of renewable energy.
I am happy to have been involved in the work of a field that is not usually associated with women. I think women have a crucial role to play in the development of renewable energies in Costa Rica and the rest of the world. We can contribute with our experience, dedication and performance, together with our male colleagues. We need to make sure that the geothermal project keeps growing and that we leave the environment that surrounds us in better conditions than we have found it.
This blog is the third part of the series related to the International Climate Initiative (IKI) project “Green Economy Transformation in Cooperation with the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)". Read other stories to learn more about the project.