Mannvit becomes a shareholder in GTN Latin America, founded by Fundación Chile and GTN from Germany, to service the Chilean geothermal market.
Mannvit's acquisition of shares in GTN Latin America (“GTN LA”) is a part of the company's strategic international growth plan and one that will provide needed geothermal industry expertise to Chile and the region as a whole. The acquisition of shares also allows Mannvit to expand its service offerings in renewable energy to South and Central America countries, while helping to pave the way for this growing industry in Chile. With over four decades of experience, the Iceland-based Mannvit has participated in development and construction of projects producing over 1000 MW in geothermal power and heating, adding to GTN LA’s capacity. GTN LA is a company founded by Fundacion Chile and GTN of Germany. The company offers innovative solutions for the direct use of geothermal energy. Recent Chilean projects include geothermal heating and cooling systems.
“GTN LA’s range of services increases with the entrance of Mannvit, at a time when we can see a definite increase in the development of geothermal energy in Chile,” says Marcela Angulo, Head of Energy and Climate Change at Fundación Chile. “The services they offer is quite distinguished, and integrates decades-long experience in utilizing geothermal energy. For the Chilean market, we foresee the need to utilize their geothermal expertise for direct heat, electricity production and combined heat and power applications, all done with a strong emphasis on the sustainability of the geothermal resource, which we are confident will contribute to a greater acceptance of geothermal energy by communities and the general public,” she added. Mannvit's Deputy CEO, Runolfur Maack added, "We see a tremendous potential for geothermal energy in Chile and by becoming a part of GTN LA, Mannvit can contribute to the development of this growing industry in Chile and in South America”, adding that “because Mannvit offers technical services ranging from exploration and engineering of power plants to project management in every phase of geothermal projects, we can service the entire geothermal market”.
Geothermal energy has recently emerged as one of the best options to supply Chile’s growing economy with locally-sourced energy. Geothermal energy is clean, renewable energy that has proven itself to be highly competitive with traditional sources of power. Further, geothermal is a proven technology with a high capacity factor and minimal impacts to the environment and neighboring communities.
About Fundación Chile
Fundación Chile is a non-profit, private corporation, with 34 years of experience in driving innovation in Chile. Its main objective is to identify new ideas and enterprises that can transform and deploy high-impact initiatives. Its founders and co-founders are the ITT Corporation, BHP Billiton and the Government of Chile.
The organization has created 76 companies in diverse areas, combining the advantage of natural resources, transferring and development of new technologies and business models. These have resulted in a contribution of value to the country worth more than USD $2 billion.
(www.fundacionchile.cl)
About GTN Germany
GTN is the leader in geothermal energy consulting in Germany, with offices in Neubrandenburg and Munich, and 20 years of experience in geology, geophysics, geochemistry, reservoir mechanics, engineering, drilling, heat distribution systems and engineering processes for direct heat or geothermal power generation projects.
Some of GTNs projects in operation are the air conditioning system of the German parliament in Berlin that uses cold and heat storage in the soil; the geothermal district heating plant Neuestadt Glewe, in operation for 15 years and more recently, the heat and power plant for the city district of Unterhaching in southern Germany.
(www.gtn-online.de)
About Mannvit
Mannvit, which is headquartered in Iceland, is a leader in geothermal energy and hydroelectric power, with over four decades of experience in all phases of the development of power plants. The company offers services and solutions for geothermal energy and hydroelectric power development to projects all over the world. Mannvit has geothermal projects references in Iceland, Hungary, United States, Germany, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and elsewhere.
Since 1963, the company has provided services for a wide range of public and private projects, such as the geothermal heat and power plants at Hellisheidi 300 MW, Nesjavellir 120 MW and Krafla 60 MW in Iceland, the organic cycle binary plant located in Berlin, El Salvador, and the first Kalina technology plant, located in Husavik, Iceland.