Superhot Rock Geothermal in El Salvador

The document highlights that just 1% of El Salvador's superhot rock geothermal resource could provide 31 GW of energy capacity, far exceeding the country's 2021 electricity consumption of 6,342 GWh. It argues that this technology could replace all electricity imports, reduce land-use footprints compared to other renewables, and support the nation's 2050 low-carbon development strategy.

• Preliminary modeling indicates that El Salvador possesses significant superhot rock resources; specifically, 1% of this resource could provide 31 GW of energy capacity and generate over 257,948 GWh of electricity.
• The potential energy from 1% of El Salvador's superhot rock resource is equivalent to 152 million barrels of oil and is 41 times the country's electricity consumption in 2021, which was 6,342 GWh.
• Superhot rock geothermal could significantly improve El Salvador's energy independence by replacing all of its electricity imports, which currently account for 21% of its electricity.
• Superhot rock geothermal is characterized by high energy density and low land requirements, needing approximately 12 km² per 1 GW, which is substantially less than natural gas (160 km²), solar (180 km²), offshore wind (520 km²), or biomass (14,000 km²).
• While unlikely to be commercially scaled in time for the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution goal of reducing emissions by 0.8 megatonne of CO2eq, the technology could support El Salvador's low-carbon development strategy for 2050.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). Superhot Rock Geothermal in El Salvador. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144718/El-Salvador-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Superhot Rock Geothermal in El Salvador. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144718/El-Salvador-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Superhot Rock Geothermal in El Salvador |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144718/El-Salvador-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendsuperhot, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Superhot Rock Geothermal in El Salvador}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144718/El-Salvador-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }