GEOTHERMAL ENERGY FOR POWER GENERATION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Geothermal energy is heat energy from deep inside the earth. Heat is brought near the surface
by thermal conduction, by intrusion into earth’s crust of molten magma originating from the
mantle and by circulation of groundwater to great depth. Geothermal Energy resources are
classified into several basic types. Hydrothermal energy, geopressured energy and magma
energy all result from concentration of the earth’s heat in discrete regions of the subsurface by
geological processes. Hot dry rock energy occurs at depths of 8 to 6 kms everywhere beneath
the surface as a result of the worldwide increase of temperature with depth in the earth. It also
occurs at shallow depths in areas of thermal enhancement due to geological processes. Earth
energy is thermal energy at normal temperature of the shallow ground, without enhancement
due to geological processes. It is found everywhere and can be tapped by geothermal heat
pumps.

Today only naturally occurring hot water & steam from hydrothermal sources is being utilised for
power generation economically. Exploitation of other types of energy still requires technological
advancements for techno-economic viability. Currently over 7000MWe of electricity is generated
in 20 countries in addition to 11300MWth of installed worldwide geothermal capacity for direct
heating.

2.0 ADVANTAGES:

· Indigenous Energy - helps reduce dependence on imported fuels.

· Clean Energy - helps reduce combustion-related emissions from conventional fuels.
· Diversity of Use - can be used for electricity generation, heating & ground coupled heat
pumps.
· Long term Resource Potential - with optimum development strategy, geothermal energy
can meet the requirements for 30-50 years.
· Flexible System Sizing - geothermal space heating systems range from 30kW to several
megawatts. Power generation plants range from 200kW to the largest geothermal power
plant of 1200MW at The Geysers in California USA.
· Modularity - can be used in simple multiple small easily transportable modules.
· Power Plant Longetivity - Geothermal Power Plants are designed for life spans of 20 to 30
years. With proper resource management the life can exceed design values.
· High Availability - Availabilities of 95-99% are common for modern geothermal plants
compared to 80-85% for conventional plants.
· Combined Use - geothermal plants can be used for power generation as well as direct-use
applications which results in higher thermal efficiencies and cost savings.
· Low O&M Costs - annual O&M costs are typically 5 to 8% of the capital costs which is same
as for conventional plants. The current cost of generation from typical geothermal systems
range from $0.05-0.08 / kWh which are competitive with conventional sources in some parts
of the world.

3.0 COMMERCIAL VIABILITY:

For a geothermal energy development project to be commercially viable, the five parameters
listed below have to lie within acceptable ranges. These parameters have an overriding effect on
initial development costs.

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· Temperature – Useful geothermal temperatures ranges from 100C for Geothermal Heat
Pumps (GHPs) to more than 3000C for electricity generation. In general, the higher the
temperature the better the economics for generating electricity.

· Energy Production Rates – The amount of energy that can be economically extracted from
geothermal the fluid’s temperature, flow rate, and the energy conversion technique. The
useful output per well can range from a few kilowatts for shallow low-temperature wells to
tens of megawatts for deep high-temperature, highly productive wells.

· Utilization Factors – Because of the substantial capital investment in drilling and power
conversion, geothermal power plants are best suited for baseload applications which
generally provide greater economic returns than applications with low utilization factors, such
as peaking plants.

· Well Depth – The deeper a geothermal well, the more it costs. However, wells as deep as
3,000meters can be drilled economically, provided that the energy production rates from the
wells are high. Well in use today range in depth from 60 to 3,000 meters.

· Energy Transport – Electricity can be transported over long distances. Thus, a geothermal
power plant can serve distant customers. Hot water can be transported over moderate
distances (typically 1 to 2km, put up to 50km if the system capacity is very large), depending
on resource and end-use temperatures, terrain conditions, and local climatic conditions.
Geothermal steam must be used within one to two kilometers of the production wells.

Other variables, including regulatory requirements, finance rates, and environmental constraints,
also affect project economics.

At The Geysers USA, power is sold at $0.03 to $0.035 per kWh. A power plant built today would
probably require about $0.05 per kWh. The initial cost for the field and power plant is around
$2000 per installed kW, probably $3000 to $5000/kWe for a small (<1Mwe) power plant, and
$1500 to $2500/kWe for larger plants, depending on the resource temperature and chemistry.
(source: USDOE)

4.0 TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

Geothermal power plants are divided into the following types depending on the different fluids
from wells:

Superheated steam type

Dry steam resources are rare but are the simplest and least costly to develop. Naturally
occurring steam can be used in a standard steam turbine to generate electricity. The steam
produced from geothermal wells is fed directly to the steam turbine using insulated pipelines.

Hot water type

Liquid dominated resources are more common. If resource temperatures are fairly high (>
1700C), the liquid can be partially flashed to steam in a tank maintained at a much lower
pressure, for use in a steam turbine. If temperatures are moderate (1000C to 1800C), the heat in
the liquid can be used to vaporise a secondary organic working fluid, and produce power using a
binary cycle plant.

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· Single flash cycle – If the geothermal fluid is in a compressed liquid state, it partially flashes
into steam in the well-bore as it rises to the surface. Additional steam is separated in the flash
tanks and fed to the steam turbine. The remaining liquid is then disposed off on the surface
or re-injected back into the reservoir.

· Multi-flash cycle – If resource temperatures are sufficiently high the fluid can be flashed
twice or more. Flashing occurs in the well and in the separators on the surface. This
separated high-pressure steam is fed to the high-pressure stages of the turbine. The liquid
fraction from the first separator is flashed again in a second, low-pressure separator. The
additional steam is fed to the low-pressure stages of the turbine. The addition of a second
flash stage increases the plant efficiency by about 20% compared to a single flash system.

· Binary cycle – If resource temperatures are low (100 to 1800C), then the hot water is used to
boil a working fluid in a heat exchanger, usually some organic compound with a very low
boiling point. The vapor produced by heating the organic compound is expanded in the
turbine to generate power. After condensation the fluid is recycled through the heat
exchanger in a closed cycle. As a closed loop system, binary geothermal power plants
produce no air emissions.

Distribution of Geothermal Plant Types

Across the World Dry Steam Binary
37% 4%

TOTAL
6745.3
Single Flash
38%
Double Flash
21%

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 Reservoir Reservoir Fluid Common Use Technology commonly chosen
Temperature
High Temperature Water or Steam Power Generation Flash Steam; Combined (Flash
>220oC Direct Use and Binary) Cycle Direct Fluid
Use Heat Exchangers Heat
Pumps
Intermediate Water Power Generation Binary Cycle
Temperature Direct Use Direct Fluid Use; Heat
100-220oC Exchangers ; Heat Pumps
Low Temperature Water Direct Use Direct Fluid Use; Heat
50-150oC Exchangers; Heat Pumps

5.0 SETTING UP A GEOTHERMAL POWER PROJECT :

The development of a successful geothermal energy project relies on a variety of specialised

technologies. Cost-effective use of each technology is crucial.

· Exploration: The first stage of development of a geothermal plant begins with exploration to
find a reservoir at an economically useful temperature & depth with adequate permeability
and volume. Exploration relies on surface measurements of subsurface geological, geo-
chemical & geophysical conditions. Integration of data from a wide variety of sources to
develop a good conceptual model of the system is most important.
· Well Drilling & Testing : Drilling of wells is done to measure subsurface temperatures and
flow rates, measure other subsurface conditions and to produce and re-inject the geothermal
fluid. After each well is completed production and/or injection tests are run. Reservoir
characteristics related to temperature, pressure, chemistry and permeability are measured
and used to plan resource utilisation.
· Reservoir Engineering: Information gathered from subsurface measurements and well
testing is used to generate and refine a model of how the reservoir works. These models are
used to optimise energy extraction and maximise the economic lifetime of the resource.
Reservoir engineering determines major design considerations such as location depth flow
rate, configuration and number of production & injection wells.
· Power Plant Design: Geothermal Power Plant design depends on the physical
characteristics of the geothermal fluid. Ability to accommodate changes in fluid pressure,
enthalpy and non-condensible gases content that may take place in later part of the system
lifespan is also important. Dry steam power plants at The Geysers field in California have
been online since 1960 and have proved to be cost competitive with other generating
sources. Single and Dual Flashed Steam Power Plants are widely used in the US &
worldwide. Binary technology has been successful using resource temperatures as low as
1000C.
· Fluid Handling : Chemical constituents in some geothermal fluids can cause scaling,
corrosion or mechanical erosion of wells, gathering/injection systems and surface plant
equipment. Recent research has yielded major advances. Injection of carbonate scale
inhibiting compounds into production wells; use of crystalliser-clarifier technology and pH
modification to control silica scaling; polymer concrete liners for pipes and CO2 resistant
cements for production wells have helped overcome brine handling problems.
· Environmental Control : H2 S emissions to atmosphere, land use and disposal of solid
wastes are the hazards to be tackled to meet strict environmental regulations. Although the
intensity of these hazards varies from site to site, development of appropriate control
technologies has facilitated sound geothermal systems.

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6.0 GEOTHERMAL TECHNOLOGY STATUS
Geothermal electric generation was started in the beginning of this century in Italy at Larderallo.
The world’s generating capacity of geothermal electricity at the end of 1997 was around 8000
MW. Italy, New Zealand, USA, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, El Salvador are
the leading countries in the geothermal electric utilization apart from many other countries.
Technology for electric generation from geofluid has been perfected these include condensing,
non-condensing single/multi flashing, binary, single/double fluid cycles. Total flow system, hybrid
combustion-geothermal system have also been tried. Reinjection of geofluid has been adopted
due to environmental consideration and to prolong the life of reservoir.

Non-electric utilization of geothermal energy include space heating air conditioning agricultural
usages; green house farming, horticulture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, industrial
applications, chemical industry, extraction of mineral, food processing, pulp & paper
manufacturing, balneology, tourism, bottled mineral water etc. The leading countries in non-
electric use are China, Iceland, Japan, France, Hungary, CIS (formerly USSR), USA, New
Zealand. Geothermal heat pump are popular in USA for space heating/cooling. In India direct
application of geofluid include tourism (hot bath-balneology), mineral water and beginning has
been made in space heating, green house farming, cold storage, poultry farming, mushroom
cultivation, sulphur and borax extraction. Direct use of geothermal energy was to the tune of
12,000 MWth in the year 1991.

With over 8000 MW of installed capacity, geothermal electric power generation is a well-proven
technology that has been especially successful in countries and islands that have a high reliance
on imported fossil fuels. Power plants as small as 100kW, but commonly 1-5MW, may provide
distributed generation on larger grids or they may be a major generation source for smaller
power grids. Power plants with generation units up to 100MW in size are connected to national
power grids and usually operated in a base load mode, operating at full capacity continuously
365 days of the year. This type of generation is widespread in Indonesia and the Philippines.

WORLDWIDE INSTALLED GEOTHERMAL POWER(2000)

Installed Capacity MWe Installed Capacity MWthermal

1 USA 2228 1874
2 Philippines 1909 0
3 Mexico 755 28
4 Italy 785 308
5 New Zealand 437 264
6 Japan 546.9 319
7 Indonesia 589.5 0
8 El Salvador 161 0
9 Nicaragua 70 0
10 Costa Rica 142.5 0
11 Iceland 170 1443
12 Kenya 45 0
13 China 29.17 2143
14 Turkey 20.4 140
15 Russia 23 210
16 France 4.2 456
17 Portugal 16

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 18 Romania 137
19 Hungary 638
20 Georgia 245
21 Switzerland 110
22 Slovakia 100
23 Tunisia 90
24 Serbia 80
25 Macedonia 70
26 Poland 63
27 Thailand 0.3
28 Others 329
TOTAL 7974.06 9047
Source: Huttrer, 2001
Current installed capacity = 8256 MWe

Geothermal Power Plants: Technology Suppliers

Technology Supplier No. of Units Remarks

Supplied
1. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan 71 1808.0 MW
2. Ormat International, USA 200 550 MW operational
3. Fuji Electric, Japan
4. Toshiba, Japan
5. Ansaldo
6. GE

OrmatGE
8% 1% Mitsubishi
23% Market Share of Geothermal Units
Others Supplied Worldwide
22%
Total Units (as of February,1997)
305 Toshiba
15%
Enel,Italy
18% Fuji
13%

7.0 INDIAN SCENARIO :

A systematic geothermal survey in India began in 1973 undertaken by Geological Survey of India
and the existence of 340 potential sites was reported. Eleven geothermally prospective districts
have been identified till date. Most of them appear to have resources at temperatures of about
100-1200C, but some appear to have reservoirs at 1-3 km depth with calculated geothermometry
temperatures of 200-2500C. The most promising geothermal fields as on date are :
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· NW Himalayas: Puga-Chumathang (Ladakh district, J&K) where a 1MWe plant is planned,
and Parbati Valley with the Manikaran field in Himachal Pradesh where in 1992 a 5kWe
geothermal binary cycle plant was successfully run.
· Central India: Tattapani region (Madhya Pradesh) where the installation of a 20MWe binary
plant has been planned.

No deep geothermal well has been drilled to date. Large-scale availability of cheaper energy
sources like coal apparently has hampered the growth of geothermal energy exploitation.

NHPC has been appointed as a nodal agency for exploitation of Geothermal energy in the
country by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources. The Corporation has hired the
services of an International Consultant viz. M/s GeothermEx. USA for preparation of pre-
feasibility report and also supervision and exploitation involving deep drilling and preparation of
detailed project reports. Approval for development of Tattapani Geothermal fields in Chattisgarh
for power generation in two phases has been received from Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy
Sources. Meanwhile, in principle, approval of Government of Chhatisgarh has been obtained for
installation of pilot Geothermal power plants at Tattapani. Land has been acquired and the
infrastructure works have been started. Revised estimate for 1MW pilot plant has been
submitted to MNES with the help of inputs from the various sources / budgetary offers. MNES
will bear funding to the tune of Rs 46 million.

8.0 FUTURE PROSPECTS:

Hydrothermal reservoirs, the only geothermal resource which has been economically utilised for
power generation, represents just 10% of the total geothermal resource base. Hot dry rock
energy offers enormous potential for power generation. It occurs at relatively water free hot rock
fund at various depths beneath the earth surface. The energy can be extracted by circulating
water through man-made fractures in the hot rock. However current technology is not
commercially viable for extracting hot dry rock energy. Geo-pressured brines are hot,
pressurised, methane-rich waters found in sedimentary basins 10,000 to 20,000 feet below the
surface. Magma is the molten rock inside earth crust. With advances in technology these
resources have the potential to provide limitless energy.

Geothermal power generation typically involves relatively high levels of capital investment. Such
expenditure, required to prove the geothermal resource capacity, involves some risk. Geothermal
power projects are characterised by high capital investment for exploration, drilling wells and
installation of plant, but low operating costs because of the low marginal cost of fuel. Return on
investment is not achieved as quickly as with cheaper fossil fuel power plant, but longer term
economic benefits accrue from the use of this indigenous fuel source. The following Table
details typical capital costs for various sizes of geothermal power plants for medium and high
quality resources.

Unit cost of Steam or Water (US$/tonne)

Cost Cost
(US$/tonne of steam) (US $/tonne of hot water)
High temperature (>150oC) 3.5-6.0
Medium Temperature (100-150oC) 3.0-4.5 0.2 – 0.4
Low Temperature (<100oC) 0.1-0.2

Unit Cost of Power (USc/kWh)

Unit Cost Unit Cost Unit Cost

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 (US c/kWh) (US c/kWh) (US c/kWh)
High Quality Resource Medium Quality Resource Low Quality Resource
Small plants 5.0-7.0 5.5-8.5 6.0-10.5
(<5 MW)
Medium 4.0-6.0 4.5-7 Normally not suitable
Plants (5-30
MW)
Large Plants 2.5-5.0 4.0-6.0 Normally not suitable
(>30 MW)

Direct Capital Costs (US$/kW installed capacity)

Plant Size High Quality Resource Medium Quality Resource
Small plants Exploration : US$400-800 Exploration : US$400-1000
(<5 MW) Steam field:US$100-200 Steam field:US$300-600
Power Plant:US$1100-1300 Power Plant:US$1100-1400
Total: US$1600-2300 Total: US$1800-3000
Medium Exploration : US$250-400 Exploration: : US$250-600
Plants Steamfield:US$200-US$500 Steam field:US$400-700
(5-30 MW) Power Plant: US$850-1200 Power Plant:US$950-1200
Total: US$1300-2100 Total: US$1600-2500
Large Plants Exploration:: US$100-200 Exploration : US$100-400
(>30 MW) Steam field:US$300-450 Steam field:US$400-700
Power Plant:US$750-1100 Power Plant:US$850-1100
Total: US$1150-1750 Total: US$1350-220
Source: World Bank
Operating and Maintenance Costs

O&M Cost (US c/KWh) O&M Cost (US c/KWh) O&M Cost (US c/KWh)
Small plants (<5 MW) Medium Plants (5-30 MW) Large Plants(>30 MW)
Steam 0.35-0.7 0.25-0.35 0.15-0.25
field
Power 0.45-0.7 0.35-0.45 0.25-0.45
Plant
Total 0.8-1.4 0.6-0.8 0.4-0.7

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:

The degree to which geothermal development affects the environment is, in most cases,
proportional to the scale of such development. For example, the environmental impacts
associated with geothermal direct use projects are often minimal. Those associated with large
scale electrical generation projects may be very large. The direct use projects are often designed
as closed loop use systems where the low- or medium-temperature geothermal fluids are
circulated through a heat exchanger or heat pump (or flow naturally around downhole heat
exchangers).

The potential impacts of large scale geothermal development are summarised in the table below.

Potential Impact Potential Effect Mitigation/Remediation measures

Land requirement · Vegetation loss · Single drill pads –several wells
· Soil erosion · Re-vegetation programs
· Landslides · Adequate land compensation
· Land ownership issues
Water take from · Impact on local watershed · Take from streams with high flow
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 streams/waterways rates
for drilling · Damming and diverting · Coincide drilling with rainy season
purposes local streams not dry season
· Build temporary reservoirs
· Liaise with local farmers to take
their usage into account
Water take from · Loss of natural features · Avoid water take from outflows
reservoir (see note below) · Avoid areas where propensity for
· Increase in steaming hydrothermal eruptions (which
ground occur naturally also)
· Hydrothermal eruptions · Careful sustainable management
· Lowering of water table of resource, balancing recharge
· Increase in steam zone with take
· Subsidence
· Saline intrusion
Waste (brine & · Biological effects · Effluent treatment and removal of
condensate) · Chemical effects undesirable constituents
disposal into · Thermal effects · Reinject all waste fluids
streams/ · Cascaded uses of waste fluids
waterways eg. Fish farms, pools
Reinjection · Cooling of reservoir · Careful planning of reinjection
· Induced seismicity wells outside main reservoir
· Scaling · Monitor flow patterns before
reinjection eg. Tracer tests
· Anti-scale treatment of fluids
Drilling effluent · Biological effects · Contain in soakage ponds or in
disposal into · Chemical effects barrels for removal
streams/waterways
Air emissions · Biological effects · Effluent treatment and removal of
· Chemical effects undesirable constituents
· Localised slight heating of · Minimise emissions by scrubbing
atmosphere H2S and treating other NCGs
· Localised fogging (Non Condensible Gases)
Noise pollution · Disturbance to animals · Muffling of noise eg. silencers
and humans
· Impaired hearing

Source:

1. Geothermal Energy Association, USA

2. Geothermal Power Generation Catalogue by MHI, Japan
3. Geothermal Power Plants Catalogue by Ormat, USA

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