Geothermal Energy

By
Anu Singla
Associate Professor
Department of EE
Chitkara University, Punjab
Overview of Geothermal Energy
❖ The geothermal originates from the Greek roots geo, meaning
earth, and thermos, meaning heat.
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the
Earth.
Earth’s geothermal energy originates from the original formation
of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, from volcanic
activity, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface.

The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature

between the core of the earth and its surface, drives a continuous
conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to
the surface.
❖ From hot springs, geothermal energy has been used for bathing
since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman
times, but it is now better known for electricity generation.
Origin of Geothermal Energy
❖ Geothermal energy is generated in the earth‘s core, almost 4,000
miles beneath the earth‘s surface. The double-layered core is
made up of very hot magma (melted rock) surrounding a solid
iron center. Very high temperatures are continuously produced
inside the earth by the slow decay of radioactive particles. This
process is natural in all rocks.
❖ Surrounding the outer core is the mantle, which is about
1,800 miles thick and made of magma and rock. The
outermost layer of the earth, the land that forms the continents
and ocean floors, is called the crust. The crust is 3–5 miles thick
under the oceans and 15–35 miles thick on the continents.
Origin of Geothermal Energy

The crust of the earth is made up of several broken pieces, which are
known as plates. The hot magma from deep down below rises up close to
the surface of the earth at the junctures of these plates. These are the
places where volcanoes are formed.
The lava that spews from volcanoes is made up partly of magma. The heat
from this magma is absorbed by the water and rocks that occur
deep beneath the earth‘s surface.
Origin of Geothermal Energy
❖ Temperature of the water and the rocks get increasingly
hotter the deeper down below the earth‘s surface.
❖ Superheated substances in the form of magma, that
contains enormous energy and power, can be tapped for
creating geothermal power.
❖ Some of these substances also rise to the surface in the form of
hot water and steam, which spew out from natural vents.
❖ When the rising hot water and steam is trapped in permeable and
porous rocks under a layer of impermeable rock, it can form a
geothermal reservoir.
❖ Therefore, we can make artificial vents as well as create
containment chambers where the magma can be kept, and turn
all this geothermal energy into electricity, which can be used to
heat and light our homes.
Concept of Geothermal Power Plant
❖In order to set up a geothermal power plant, a
well will have to be dug where there is a good
source of superheated fluid or magma.
❖Pipes would then be fitted, which would go down
into the source, and then the fluids would be
forced up to the surface in order to produce
the required steam.
❖This steam would then be used to rotate a
turbine engine, thus generating electricity, or
geothermal power.
Nature of Geothermal fields
It is convenient to classify earth’s surface into
three broad groups:
1. Non-thermal areas having a temperature
gradient of 10-40oC per km depth.
2. Semi-thermal areas having a temperature
gradient of 70oC per km depth.
3. Hyper-thermal areas where the temperature
gradients are many times greater than in non
thermal areas.
Nature of Geothermal fields
Geothermal fields may further be classified into three
types:
1. Hyper-thermal Fields:
• Wet Fields- where the water is pressurized and
temperatures are above 100oC. When they are led to
the surface a fraction will be splashed into steam and
a major part remains as the boiling water.
• Dry Fields- they produce dry saturated steam or
superheated steam at pressure above atmospheric.
2. Semi-thermal Fields: They are capable of producing
hot water at temperatures above 100oC.
Geothermal Energy Resources
There are five kinds of Geothermal Energy
resources.
1. Hydrothermal Convective Systems
They are subclassified as:
• Vapour-dominated or dry steam fields
• Liquid-dominated system or wet steam fields
and
• Hot water fields
2. Geopressurised brines
3. Petro-thermal or Hot dry rocks(HDR)
4. Magma Resources and
5. Volcanoes
Geothermal Resource Types
Geothermal Resource Types
The geothermal resources range from the mean annual ambient
temperature of around 20˚C to over 300˚C.

In general, resources above 150˚C are used for electric power

generation, although power has recently been generated at
Chena Hot Springs Resort in Alaska using a 74˚C geothermal
resource .

Resources below 150˚C are usually used in direct-use projects for

heating and cooling. Ambient temperatures in the 5 to 30˚C range
can be used with geothermal (ground-source) heat pumps to
provide both heating and cooling.
Hydrothermal energy is widely used to make
electricity.
Hydrothermal resources have two common
ingredients:
water (hydro) and heat (thermal)

Depending on the temperature of the

hydrothermal resource, the heat energy can
either be used for making electricity or for
heating.
Power Generation Technology-
Method of Heat Extraction
• Borehole heat exchangers
• Hydrothermal systems
• Hot dry rock
High Temperature Resources
High temperature geothermal reservoirs containing water and/or
steam can provide steam to directly drive steam turbines and
electrical generation plant.

High temperature resources commonly produce either steam, or a

mixture of steam and water from the production wells.

The steam and water is separated in a pressure vessel (Separator),

with the steam piped to the power station where it drives one or
more steam turbines to produce electric power.

The separated geothermal water (brine) is either utilised in a binary

cycle type plant to produce more power, or is disposed of back into
the reservoir down deep (injection) wells.
Vapor Dominated Systems
Vapor dominated systems produce steam from boiling
of deep, saline waters in low permeability rocks.
The water is vaporized into steam that reaches the
surface in a relatively dry condition at about 200oC and
rarely above 8 bar.
These reservoirs are few in number, with The Geysers in
northern California, Larderello in Italy and Matsukawa in
Japan being ones where the steam is exploited to
produce electric energy.

e.g. Dry steam plants

Liquid- Dominated Systems (wet steam
fields)
In these systems, the hot water circulating and trapped
underground is at a temperature range of 175-315oC. When
tapped by wells drilled in the right places and to the right depths,
the water flows naturally to the surface or is upto it. The drop in
pressure, usually to 8 bar or less, causes it to partially flash to a
two-phase mixture of low quality i.e. liquid- dominated.

It contains relatively large concentration of dissolved solids ranging

between 3000-25000 ppm and sometimes higher.

Power production is adversely affected by these solids because

they precipitate and cause scaling in pipes and heat exchanger
surfaces, thus reducing flow and heat transfer.
Liquid dominated systems are more plentiful than vapour-
dominated systems
Liquid Dominated Systems

Hot water dominated geothermal system

Liquid- Dominated Systems
For liquid dominated systems, following methods are used for
power generation:
❖ the flashed-steam system, suitable for water in the higher
temperature range- single flash system & double flash system
❖ the binary cycle system, suitable for water at moderate
temperatures
❖ total flow system: the total flow concept utilizes both the
kinetic energy and heat energy of the steam-liquid mixture
produced by flashing the geothermal brine.
Types of Geothermal Power Plants
Main Types of Geothermal Power Plants:

❖ Dry Steam
❖ Flash Steam
❖ Binary Cycle
Dry steam Power Plant

Dry Steam Power Plant

❖Uses the superheated, pressurized steam (180°-350°C) ,
4-8 MPa (580-1160 psi).
❖A 55 MW plant requires 100 kg/s of steam
Dry steam Power Plant
Dry steam power plants use very hot steam and little
water from the geothermal reservoir. The steam goes
directly through a pipe to a turbine to spin a generator
that produces electricity.
The steam is condensed and pumped back into the
ground
This type of geothermal power plant is the oldest, first
being used at Lardarello, Italy, in 1904.
Pro: Lowest Technology Required – Lowest Capital Costs
Con: Ideal Conditions Required
Few Sites Available (Very Rare) in U.S.
Single Flash Steam Power Plant

Direct
Contact
Condenser

Most common type of geothermal power plant. The steam, once it

has been separated from the water, is piped to the powerhouse
where it is used to drive the steam turbine.
Flash Steam Power Plant Contd..
❖ The steam is condensed after leaving the turbine,
creating a partial vacuum and thereby maximizing the
power generated by the turbine-generator.
❖ The steam is usually condensed either in a direct
contact condenser, or a heat exchanger type
condenser.
❖ In a direct contact condenser the cooling water from
the cooling tower is sprayed onto and mixes with the
steam. The condensed steam then forms part of the
cooling water circuit, and a substantial portion is
subsequently evaporated and is dispersed into the
atmosphere through the cooling tower.
❖ Excess cooling water called blow down is often
disposed of in shallow injection wells.
After developing the work on the turbine, the steam continues on to the
condenser. The function of the condenser is to reduce the pressure at
the turbine outlet and thus extract more energy from the steam flowing
from the turbine.
An additional purpose of the condenser is to condense the steam into a
liquid form since it requires much less work to pump an incompressible
liquid than compressible gas or steam.
Flash Steam Power Plant contd.
❖As an alternative to direct contact condensers, shell and
tube type condensers are sometimes used. In this type
of plant, the condensed steam does not come into
contact with the cooling water, and is disposed of in
injection wells.
❖Typically, flash condensing geothermal power plants
vary in size from 5 MW to over 100 MW.
Depending on the steam characteristics, gas content,
pressures, and power plant design, between 6000 kg
and 9000 kg of steam each hour is required to produce
each MW of electrical power.
Flash Steam Power Plant contd.
❖Small power plants (less than 10 MW) are often called
well head units as they only require the steam of one
well and are located adjacent to the well on the drilling
pad in order to reduce pipeline costs. Often such well
head units do not have a condenser, and are called
backpressure units.
❖They are very cheap and simple to install, but are
inefficient (typically 10-20 tonne per hour of steam for
every MW of electricity) and can have higher
environmental impacts.
Double Flash Power Plants
❖Similar to single flash operation
❖Unflashed liquid flows to low-pressure tank –
flashes to steam
❖Steam drives a second-stage turbine
-Also uses exhaust from first turbine
❖Increases output 20-25% for 5% increase in
plant costs
Double Flash Power Plants
Double Flash Schematic
Binary Cycle Power Plants

In reservoirs where temperatures are typically less than 220o C but

greater than 100o C, binary cycle plants are often utilised.
Binary Cycle Power Plants
❖ The reservoir fluid (either steam or water or both) is passed
through a heat exchanger which heats a secondary working fluid
(organic) which has a boiling point lower than 100o C.
This is typically an organic fluid such as Isopentane, which is
vaporised and is used to drive the turbine.
❖ The organic fluid is then condensed in a similar manner to the
steam in the flash power plant described earlier, except that a
shell and tube type condenser rather than direct contact is used.
❖ The fluid in a binary plant is recycled back to the heat exchanger
and forms a closed loop. The cooled reservoir fluid is again re-
injected back into the reservoir.
❖ Binary cycle type plants are usually between 7 and 12 % efficient,
depending on the temperature of the primary (geothermal) fluid.
Binary Cycle plant typically vary in size from 500 kW to 10 MW.
Binary Cycle Power Plants

❖Low temps – 100o and 150oC

❖Use heat to vaporize organic liquid
E.g., iso-butane, iso-pentane
❖Use vapor to drive turbine
• Causes vapor to condense
• Recycle continuously
Combined Cycle (Flash and Binary)
❖Combined cycle power plants are a combination of
conventional steam turbine technology and binary cycle
technology.
❖By combining both technologies, higher overall utilization
efficiencies can be gained, as the conventional steam
turbine is more efficient at generation of power from high
temperature steam, and the binary cycle from the lower
temperature separated water.

❖In addition, by replacing the condenser-cooling tower

cooling system in a conventional plant by a binary plant, the
heat available from condensing the spent steam after it has
left the steam turbine can be utilized to produce more
power.
Direct Use Technologies
Geothermal heat is used directly rather than for power
generation
Direct use technologies are where geothermal heat is used
directly rather than for power generation and are built around
the extraction of heat from relatively low temperature
geothermal resources, generally of less than 150oC (300oF).

Because geothermal heat is non-transportable, (except short

distances by fluid pipeline) any applications must generally be
sited within 10 km or less of the resource.
For many resources, the relatively low temperatures and/or
pressures in the reservoirs means that they have insufficient
energy and/or pressure differences to naturally carry the fluids
to the surface and pumps are frequently used (either downhole
or at the surface).
Direct Use Technologies
The type of technology selected for utilising geothermal heat for
direct use applications is dependent on the nature of the
geothermal fluid and the type of direct use planned.

In many direct use applications, the geothermal fluid cannot be

used directly, such as in drying processes or where clean steam or
hot water is necessary, as geothermal fluid often contains chemical
contaminants.
In such cases heat exchangers are utilised to extract the heat from
the hot geothermal fluid and transfer it to either clean water, or in
the case of drying processes, to air.

Commonly used heat pump technology can also be employed in

order to utilise geothermal heat for air conditioning and
refrigeration applications.
Convective Hydrothermal Resources

Convective hydrothermal resources occur where the Earth’s heat is

carried upward by convective circulation of naturally occurring hot
water or steam. Some high temperature convective hydrothermal
resources result from deep circulation of water along fractures.
Sedimentary Basins
Sedimentary basins produce higher temperature resources than the surrounding
formations due to their low thermal conductivity or high heat flow or both
producing geothermal gradients >30˚C/km.
These generally extend over large areas and are typical of the Madison
Formation of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming area of the
northern United States and the Pannonian Basin of central Europe where it has
been used extensively in Hungary.
Geopressured Resources
Geopressured resources occur in large, deep sedimentary basins. The reservoirs
contain moderately high temperature water (or brine) under very high pressure.

The fluids are tightly confined by surrounding impermeable rock and bear
pressure much greater than hydrostatic. Thermal waters under high pressure in
sand acquifers (it is a water bearing stratum of permeable rock, gravel or sand)
are the target for drilling (depths 2400-9000 m), mainly as they contain dissolved
methane.

The source of energy available from this type of resource consists of:
(1) heat; (2) mechanical energy; and, (3) methane.

The Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast in the United States has been tested for the
geothermal energy; however, due to the great depths of several kilometers, they
have not proved economic.
Hot Dry Rock (HDR) Resources or
Petrothermal Systems
Hot dry rock resources are defined as heat stored in rocks within
about 10 km of the surface from which energy cannot be
economically extracted by natural hot water or steam.

These hot rocks have few pore space, or fractures, and therefore,
contain little water and little or no interconnected permeability.

In order to extract the heat, experimental projects have artificially

fractured the rock by hydraulic pressure, followed by circulating cold
water down one well to extract the heat from the rocks and then
producing from a second well in a closed system. The water moves
through the fractures, picking up heat.

There it is used in a power plant to produce electricity.

Hot Dry Rock Resources

Hot dry rock

exploitation
Hot Dry Rock Technology

❖Wells drilled 3-6 km into crust

-Hot crystalline rock formations
❖Water pumped into formations
❖Water flows through natural fissures picking
up heat
❖Hot water/steam returns to surface
❖Steam used to generate power
Hot Dry Rock (HDR) Geothermal Energy
Technology
The technology to mine the heat from the hot
rock found almost everywhere at some depth
beneath the surface of the earth was
conceived and developed at Los Alamos
between the years of 1970 and 1996.
HDR heat mining as shown in the drawing,
water is pumped into hot, crystalline rock via
an injection well, becomes superheated as it
flows through open joints in the hot rock
reservoir, and is returned through production
wells.
At the surface, the useful heat is extracted by
conventional processes, and the same water
is re-circulated to mine more heat.
The key element in successful heat mining is
the development of an engineered
geothermal reservoir in a hot body,
impermeable rock.
Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy
Technology
❖ The point in a hot rock body at which an HDR reservoir is created is
determined by the selection of the location on the surface from
which the injection well is drilled and the depth within the
wellbore at which the water is injected into the hot rock, while the
overall size of the reservoir is a direct function of the total amount
of water pumped into the rock during its development.
❖ Although these parameters can be engineered, the shape,
orientation, and internal structure of the reservoir, are entirely
functions of the local geologic conditions and are, at present,
beyond human control.
❖ For this reason, it is important to understand the local geology
before attempting to develop an HDR reservoir.
❖ As an HDR reservoir is being formed, rock blocks are moved very
slightly by the injected water. These small movements give rise to
low frequency stress waves similar to, but much smaller than,
those caused by earthquakes.
Promise of HDR
❖1 km3 of hot rock has the energy content of
70,000 tonnes of coal
– If cooled by 1 ºC
❖Upper 10 km of crust in US has 600,000 times
annual US energy (USGS)
❖Between 19-138 GW power available at
existing hydrothermal sites
– Using enhanced technology
Magma Resources
These consists of partially or completely molten rock, with
temperatures in excess of 650oC which may be encountered at
moderate depths, especially in recently active volcanic regions.
These resources have a large geothermal energy content but
restricted to few locations.
Technology vs. Temperature
Reservoir Reservoir Common Technology
Temperature Fluid Use commonly chosen

High Temperature Water or Power Generation

>220oC Steam • Flash Steam
(>430oF). Direct Use • Combined (Flash
and Binary) Cycle
• Direct Fluid Use
• Heat Exchangers
• Heat Pumps

Intermediate Water Power Generation

Temperature Direct Use • Binary Cycle
100-220oC • Direct Fluid Use
(212 - 390oF). • Heat Exchangers
• Heat Pumps

Low Temperature Water Direct Use

50-150oC • Direct Fluid Use
(120-300oF). • Heat Exchangers
Prime-movers for Geothermal Energy
Conversion
The prime-movers can be classified as:
1. Impulse/Reaction machines
a. Axial Flow-curtis, rateau steam turbine
b. Radial Inflow-francis turbine, multiple disc drag turbine
c. Radial outflow-rotating nozzle (pure reaction), Hero’s turbine
d. Multiple disc turbine-bladeless impulse or reaction drag turbine

2. Positive displacement machines

e. Helical, screw expander
f. Rotating oscillating vane machine
3. Impulse machines
g. Tangential flow-pelton wheel, Re-entry type turbine
h. Axial flow, De-Laval turbine, Curtis turbine
Material Selection for Geothermal
Power Plants
❖ Most geothermal waters contain dissolved solids. The total
amount of dissolved solids is typically in the range of 300 – 1500
ppm (parts per million), of which silica amounts to some 25 –
50%.
❖ The dominant ions are sodium, chloride and sulphate.
❖ Geothermal water also contains some dissolved gases such as
carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and to a lesser extent,
hydrogen and ammonia.
❖ The transfer of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide into the
steam phase upon flashing may cause some harmful effects to
some materials.
❖ When the steam condenses, substantial amounts of the carbon
dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are dissolved in the condensate and
render it quite acidic (pH 3-5); the acid condensate is highly
corrosive.
Material Selection for Geothermal
Power Plants
Materials which have been found, through experience and testing,
to perform well in various geothermal environments throughout the
world and which are least corrosive in nature are:
❖ Carbon steel, to be used for dry- and wet-steam transmission
pipes and separators.
❖ Stainless steel for nozzles and diaphragms, 12 – 13% chrome
stainless steel for rotors.
❖ Austenitic stainless steel for most metal components in the
condensate cooling system.
❖ Aluminum or stainless steel for most structures in atmospheric
exposures.
❖ Platinum or gold- rhodium platings for surface of electrical
contacts and tin plating of all insulated copper.
❖ Redwood and Douglas fir for cooling tower fill, polyvinyl chloride
also preferred because of its strength and fire-retardant qualities.
Applications of Geothermal Energy

Electricity Generation:
The thermal efficiency of geothermal electric plants is low, around
10-23%, because geothermal fluids do not reach the high
temperatures of steam from boilers.

Exhaust heat is wasted, unless it can be used directly and locally, for
example in greenhouses, timber mills, and district heating.

Because geothermal power does not rely on variable sources of

energy, unlike, for example, wind or solar, its capacity factor can be
quite large – up to 96% has been demonstrated. The global average
was 73% in 2005.
Applications of Geothermal Energy

Direct Applications: In the geothermal industry, low

temperature means temperatures of 300 °F (149 °C) or
less.

Low-temperature geothermal resources are typically used

in direct-use applications, such as district
heating, greenhouses, fisheries, mineral recovery,
and industrial process heating.

However, some low-temperature resources can generate

electricity using binary cycle electricity generating
technology.
Applications of Geothermal Energy

❖Direct heating is far more efficient than electricity

generation and places less demanding temperature
requirements on the heat resource.
❖Heat may come from co-generation via a geothermal
electrical plant or from smaller wells or heat exchangers
buried in shallow ground.
❖As a result, geothermal heating is economic at many
more sites than geothermal electricity generation.
Where natural hot springs are available, the heated
water can be piped directly into radiators.
❖If the ground is hot but dry, earth tubes or downhole
heat exchangers can collect the heat.
Applications of Geothermal Energy

❖But even in areas where the ground is colder than room

temperature, heat can still be extracted with a
geothermal heat pump more cost-effectively and cleanly
than by conventional furnaces.

❖Geothermal heat pumps can be used for space heating

essentially anywhere. Geothermal heat supports many
applications. District heating applications use networks
of piped hot water to heat many buildings across entire
communities.
Geothermal District Heating System
Geothermal District Heating

Southhampton geothermal district heating system technology

schematic
Example of Direct Applications are:

i) Geothermal heating
ii) Geothermal heat pump
Advantages of Geothermal Energy
❖ The first advantage of using geothermal heat to power
a power station is that, unlike most power stations, a
geothermal system does not create any pollution.
❖ The cost of the land to build a geothermal power plant on,
is usually less expensive than if you were planning to
construct an; oil, gas, coal, or nuclear power
plant. The main reason for this is land space, as
geothermal plants take up very little room, so you don’ t
need to purchase a larger area of land.
❖ No fuel is used to generate the power, which in return,
means the running costs for the plants are very low as there
are no costs for purchasing, transporting, or cleaning up of
fuels you may consider purchasing to generate the power.
Advantages of Geothermal Energy
❖The overall financial aspect of these plants is
outstanding, you only need to provide power to the
water pumps, which can be generated by the power
plant itself anyway. Because they are modular, then can
be transported conveniently to any site. Both baseline
and peaking power can be generated.

❖Construction time can be as little as 6 months for plants

in the range 0.5 to 10 MW and as little as 2 years for
clusters of plants totaling 250 MW or more.
Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy
• Fluids drawn from the deep earth carry a mixture of gases,
notably carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methane (CH4)
and ammonia (NH3). These pollutants contribute to global warming, acid
rain, and noxious smells if released.
Existing geothermal electric plants emit an average of 122 kilograms
(269 lb) of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity, a small fraction
of the emission intensity of conventional fossil fuel plants.
Plants that experience high levels of acids and volatile chemicals are
usually equipped with emission-control systems to reduce the exhaust.

• In addition to dissolved gases, hot water from geothermal sources may

hold in solution trace amounts of toxic chemicals such
as mercury, arsenic, boron, and antimony. These chemicals precipitate as
the water cools, and can cause environmental damage if released.
The modern practice of injecting cooled geothermal fluids back into the
Earth to stimulate production has the side benefit of reducing this
environmental risk.
Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy
❖Plant construction can adversely affect land stability.
Subsidence has occurred in the Wairakei field in New
Zealand and in Staufen im Breisgau, Germany.

❖Enhanced geothermal systems can trigger earthquakes

as part of hydraulic fracturing. The project
in Basel, Switzerland was suspended because more than
10,000 seismic events measuring up to 3.4 on the Richter
Scale occurred over the first 6 days of water injection.
Technological Issues

❖Geothermal fluids can be corrosive

– Contain gases such as hydrogen sulphide
– Corrosion, scaling
❖Requires careful selection of materials and
diligent operating procedures
❖Typical capacity factors of 85-95%
Geysers

Clepsydra Geyser in
Yellowstone (U.S.)

A geyser is a type of hot spring that erupts periodically, ejecting a column of hot water
and steam into the air. The name geyser comes from Geysir, the name of an erupting
spring at Haukadalur, Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the Icelandic verb gjósa,
"to gush".
The formation of geysers requires a favourable hydrogeology which exists in only a few
places on Earth, and so they are fairly rare phenomena. About 1000 exist worldwide,
with about half of these in Yellowstone National Park, USA (Glennon, J.A. 2005). Geyser
eruptive activity may change or cease due to ongoing mineral deposition within the
geyser plumbing, exchange of functions with nearby hot springs, earthquake influences,
and human intervention (Bryan, T.S. 1995).
Hot Springs

Hot springs in Steamboat Springs Area

Cost Factors
❖Temperature and depth of resource
❖Type of resource (steam, liquid, mix)
❖Available volume of resource
❖Chemistry of resource
❖Permeability of rock formations
❖Size and technology of plant
❖Infrastructure (roads, transmission lines)
Costs of Geothermal Energy
❖Costs highly variable by site
– Dependent on many cost factors
❖High exploration costs
❖High initial capital, low operating costs
– Fuel is “free”
❖Significant exploration & operating risk
– Adds to overall capital costs
– “Risk premium”
Characteristics of Geothermal Energy
The general characteristics of geothermal energy that make it of
significant importance for both electricity production and direct
use include:
❖ Extensive global distribution; it is accessible to both developed
and developing countries.
❖ Environmentally friendly nature; it has low emission of sulphur,
CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
❖ Indigenous nature; it is independent of external supply and
demand effects and fluctuations in exchange rates.
❖ Independence of weather and season.
❖ Contribution to the development of diversified power sources.
Global Scenario
❖ Geothermal energy supplies more than 10,715 MW to 24 countries
worldwide which is expected to generate 67,246 GWh of electricity in
2010 and produces enough electricity to meet the needs of 60 million
people and another 22 countries will add to the list in 2010
(source: International Geothermal Association).
❖ An additional 28 GW of direct geothermal heating capacity is installed for
district heating, space heating, industrial processes, desalination and
agricultural applications. This renewable energy source also has the
potential to provide significant opportunities to do businesses both small
and large.
❖ It is considered possible to produce up to 8.3% of the total world electricity
with geothermal resources, serving 17% of the world population.
❖ According to market studies, investment in geothermal energy is growing
globally at 24% a year. This exceptional investing growth rate is expected to
continue – and increase even faster – for the foreseeable future.
❖ In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity
production with 3,086 MW of installed capacity from 77 power plants.
Global Scenario
❖ The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The
Geysers, a geothermal field in California.
❖ The Philippines is the second highest producer, with 1,904 MW of capacity
online. Geothermal power makes up approximately 18% of the country’s
electricity generation. Also in Indonesia 5% of overall electricity generation
is from geothermal energy.
❖ Geothermal electric plants were traditionally built exclusively on the edges
of tectonic plates where high temperature geothermal resources are
available near the surface. The development of binary cycle power plants
and improvements in drilling and extraction technology enable enhanced
geothermal systems over a much greater geographical
range. Demonstration projects are operational in Landau-Pfalz, Germany,
and Soultz-sous-Forêts, France, while an earlier effort in Basel, Switzerland
was shut down after it triggered earthquakes.
❖ Other demonstration projects are under construction in Australia,
the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Indian Scenario
❖ India has reasonably good potential for geothermal; the potential
geothermal provinces can produce 10,600 MW of power.
❖ Though India has been one of the earliest countries to begin
geothermal projects way back in the 1970s, but at present there
are no operational geothermal plants in India. There is also no
installed geothermal electricity generating capacity as of now and
only direct uses (eg.Drying) have been detailed.
❖ Thermax, a capital goods manufacturer based in Pune, has
entered an agreement with Icelandic firm Reykjavík Geothermal.
Thermax is planning to set up a 3 MW pilot project in Puga Valley,
Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir). Reykjavík Geothermal will assist
Thermax in exploration and drilling of the site.
❖ India’s Gujarat state is drafting a policy to promote geothermal
energy
Indian Scenario

Direct Uses
i) Total thermal installed capacity in MW: 203.0
ii) Direct use in TJ/year: 1,606.3
iii) Direct use in GWh/year: 446.2
iv) Capacity factor: 25%
Indian Scenario
Potential Sites
i) Puga Valley (J&K)
ii) Tatapani (Chhattisgarh)
iii) Godavari Basin Manikaran (Himachal Pradesh)
iv) Bakreshwar (West Bengal)
v) Tuwa (Gujarat)
vi) Unai (Maharashtra)
vii) Jalgaon (Maharashtra)

The various assessment studies and surveys undertaken so far

have resulted in the identification of 340 hot springs across
India. The discovery of vast geothermal reservoirs at Puga in the
north-west of the Himalayas and Tatapani fields on the
Narmada in central India also augurs well for the country.
Potential Geothermal regions/sources in
India
With India’s geothermal power potential of 10,600 MW, the following are
the potential sources/ regions where geothermal energy can be harnessed in
India.
Province Surface Temp Reservoir Heat Flow Thermal
C Temp C gradient

Himalaya >90 260 468 100

Cambay 40-90 150-175 80-93 70

West coast 46-72 102-137 75-129 47-59

Sonata 60 – 95 105-217 120-290 60-90

Godavari 50-60 175-215 93-104 60

QUERIES??