11 Geothermal Energy

11.1 INTRODUCTION
The temperature gradient in the crust of the Earth is 17–30°C per kilometer of depth.
For example, deep mines are hot, and most need cooling for the miners. Plumes of
magma ascend by buoyancy and force themselves into the crust, generally along the
edges of tectonic plates (Figure 11.1), which results in volcanoes. There are huge
regions of subsurface hot rocks with cracks and faults that allow water to seep into
the reservoir, which then results in hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and fumaroles.
Two famous examples are Yellowstone Park and Iceland, which is an exposed section
of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Geothermal energy is not renewable in the same sense as solar, wind, and hydro
energy, and the average heat ow of the Earth is a thousand times less than the
low-density solar insolation. Another major difference is that solar and wind energy are
variable on short time periods, and hydro is variable by season; however, geothermal
energy only declines as heat is taken out, with lifetimes of 100 or more years. Even
though the heat ow is small, there are many locations in the world with reservoirs
of hot rock with water and steam that can be used for heat and for the generation of
electricity. These regions have average heat ow around 300 mW/m2 compared with a

Eurasian
Eurasian

North
Juan America
de Fuca
Caribbean
Arabian
Philippine
East Indian
Cocos
African
Rift
Nazca
Australian South
American African
Pacific Plate

Scotia
Volcano Antarctic

FIGURE 11.1 Tectonic plates of the Earth with volcanoes (historical).

217
218 Introduction to Renewable Energy

global average of 60 mW/m2. In the generation of electricity, the heat ow of the Earth
is much less than the removal of energy from the hot rock reservoirs, so it is similar to
mining. But the geothermal reservoirs are large, and they will produce energy for years.
The heat content per unit mass is a function of pressure, volume, and tempera-
ture; reservoirs are classi ed according to temperature: high (water and steam at
temperatures of 182°C and above); medium, 100–182°C; and low, less than 100°C
(essentially no steam). Around 77 TWh of electricity was generated from geothermal
energy in 2009 from an installed capacity of around 11,300 MW. In addition, the
amount of thermal energy for direct use is around double the electrical energy.
With reservoir temperatures of 120–370°C, hot water or steam can be used to gener-
ate electricity in a conventional power plant. Hot water that is trapped in underground
reservoirs within 1 to 6 km of the surface can be tapped by drilling. Enhanced geo-
thermal systems (EGSs) are hot rock reservoirs that have to be modi ed by hydraulic
fracturing because they have low permeability and porosity. There is also renewed
interest in the energy potential of geopressure-geothermal resources and the geo-
thermal uids found in oil and gas production elds as well as some mining operations.
Shallow reservoirs of lower temperature, 20–150°C, are used for space heat-
ing, greenhouses, aquaculture, industry, and health spas. The macaques of northern
Japan use hot springs for warmth in the winter (for some great photos, go to Google
images, http://www.google.com/imghp). Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) use an
electric heat pump to exchange heat with the ground or groundwater, instead of air,
and can be used in almost all areas of the world. These systems for residences and
larger buildings are now competing with conventional heating and cooling systems.

11.2 RESOURCE
The geothermal resource for direct use and the generation of electricity is located
along the tectonic plate boundaries and magma plumes, such as in Hawaii and
Yellowstone [1]. The size of the resource (Table 11.1) could supply all the primary
energy for heat and electricity for the world. However, use is restricted due to location
in relation to population, and of course, it is also restricted by economics. The total

TABLE 11.1
Geothermal Energy Resource Base for
World and the United States
World Continental, United States,
Regime 109 BOE 109 BOE
Magma systems 2,400,000 160,000
Crustal heat 79,000,000 2,300,000
Thermal aquifers 130 9

Source: From Geothermal energy, www.geothermal.org/

GeoEnergy.pdf.
BOE = barrel of oil equivalent.
Geothermal Energy 219

High enthalpy (el. power)

High temperature basins
(el. power, district heating)
Medium temperature basins
(district heating)
Everywhere:
EGS, shallow geothermal

FIGURE 11.2 Geothermal map for Europe. Inset is Iceland. (Map from European
Geothermal Association.)

stored heat energy up to a depth of 5 km worldwide is estimated at 1.5 * 1026 J, and

if 1% can be mined, the recoverable resource is on the order of 1.5 * 1024 J.
Regions and nations along the boundaries of the tectonic plates are using geo-
thermal energy and have maps of the resource. In Europe (Figure 11.2), Italy, Iceland,
and Turkey are the major areas. Iceland, with an area of 103,000 km2 (Figure 11.3),
has a geothermal resource estimated at 96,800 EJ within 3 km of the surface, and the
technically capturable energy is 3,320 EJ, which at their current energy consumption
would last for 40,000 yr.
In the United States, the resource is primarily in the west (Figure 11.4). There are
271 cities and communities with a population of 7.4 million in the 10 western states that
could potentially utilize geothermal energy for district heating and other applications.
Information for regional and national geothermal resources is available in the
Recommended Resources section of this chapter.
A good site for geothermal use is that of the International Geothermal Association
(“Geothermal in the World”), available at http://www.geothermal-energy.org/
105,interactive_map.html. The data may be a few years old but are indicative of use
by country.
220 Introduction to Renewable Energy

Bedrock
<0.8 m. years
High temperature field 0.8–3.3 m. years
Low temperature field 3.3–15 m. years

FIGURE 11.3 Geothermal map for Iceland showing high- and low-temperature elds.

11.3 TYPES OF GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES

The types of geothermal resources are convective hydrothermal systems; EGSs;
conductive sedimentary systems; coproduction, with water from oil and gas elds;
geopressure systems; and magma energy.
The convective hydrothermal system is a heat reservoir that has high enough per-
meability and porosity for the convection of water. The reservoir has a nonperme-
able rock layer to retain the heat but enough fractures for recharge (Figure 11.5).
Surface indications of such reservoirs are hot springs, geysers, and the like, and the
reservoirs may or may not be associated with volcanoes. There is a limited distribu-
tion of these worldwide; however, they have been used throughout history and have
been exploited for direct use and the generation of electricity. Estimated reserves in
the United States are 10,000 to 30,000 MW [2].
Regions for EGSs are found worldwide and feature hot conductive rock with low
permeability and porosity. EGSs are still at the experimental or prototype stage.
Boreholes to check the thermal gradient (Figure 11.6) have to be drilled, and then pro-
duction and injection wells have to be drilled and the formation fractured (Figure 11.7)
with the same techniques used for oil and gas production. The primary challenges
are creating a large fractured rock volume, providing enough ow for commercial
production, minimizing cooling, and minimizing water loss. The main constraint is
creating suf cient connectivity within the stimulated region of the EGS reservoir to
allow for high production rates without reducing reservoir life by too rapid cooling.
Conductive sedimentary systems have basins with high heat ow, and in general
fracturing would be required. However, the resource is deep, so drilling costs will be
high; at present, there are no commercial systems.
Coproduction of geothermal energy from oil and gas elds is a possibility. Some
areas of oil and gas development have relatively high temperatures; for example,
Geothermal Energy 221

200°C

150°C

100°C

(a)

300°C

250°C

200°C

150°C

100°C

50°C

(b)

FIGURE 11.4 (a) Geothermal map for the United States, depth 6 km (from EERE, DOE);
(b) geothermal resource map for enhanced geothermal systems for the United States, depth
10 km (map from Geothermal Energy Association. March 2009).

parts of east and south Texas and northwest Louisiana are characterized by tempera-
tures of 150–200°C at depths of 4 to 6 km. In addition to temperature requirements,
a geothermal project requires large-volume ows of water, about 4 m3/min per
megawatt (depending on the temperature).
Many oil and gas wells in the United States are stripper wells, de ned by produc-
tion of oil less than 10 bbl/day and gas less than 2,100 m3/day. In some wells, the
ratio of water to oil is higher than 10/1. Also, water ooding is a common technique
for secondary recovery in old oil elds. In Texas and Oklahoma, the water produc-
tion from oil elds is over 8,000 m3/min. There is the expense of disposal of this
saltwater, primarily by reinjection. At an average temperature of 150°C, that would
 222

Geothermal Power Plants

Springs Hot Warm Land Heat Flow
? ?
Pleistocene and Holocene Volcano (data averaged .06°)
Geothermal Area Wells Low Quality Land Heat Flow
? ?
Bottom Hole Temperatures (BHT) (data averaged .06°)

Heat Flow
(mW/m*)

SMU Geothermal Lab, Geothermal Map of United States, 2004

(c)
Introduction to Renewable Energy

FIGURE 11.4 (continued) (c) heat ow map for the United States (from Southern Methodist University).
Geothermal Energy 223

Recharge
Zone

Hot Springs & Cold

Steam Vents Water

Impermeable Caprock Hot

Heat Conduction Fluids

Heat Flow
Impermeable Rock
Heat Conduction
Magma

FIGURE 11.5 Hydrothermal hot reservoir.

Temperature, °C
0 50 100 150 200 250
0

200

400
Depth, m

600

800

1000

FIGURE 11.6 Thermal gradient in a borehole in geothermal area compared to typical linear
gradient.

be an equivalent power of 8,000 MW. In general, these oil elds are not close to load
centers, so the geothermal energy has never been used.
For depleted oil elds where subsurface temperatures are high enough, the wells
could be converted to produce hot water instead of capping them, but the cost of
the hot water would still be high due to pumping costs. One demonstration project
is online in Wyoming, and one is planned for Florida [3]. The Rocky Mountain Oil
Test Center (http://www.rmotc.doe.gov/index.html) is a demonstration project near
Casper, Wyoming. In August 2008, a 250-kW Ormat organic Rankine cycle (ORC)
power unit was installed, and as of February 2009, the unit had produced 590 MWh
of power from 3 million barrels of hot water.
224 Introduction to Renewable Energy

Injection
Well

Production
Well

Fractured Pump
Zone

FIGURE 11.7 Enhanced geothermal system from formation that has been hydraulic fractured.

A proposed demonstration project at the Jay Oil Field, Florida, would have a
capacity of 200 kW, but there is the potential for 1 MW. The daily production capac-
ity is around 4,500 bbl of crude oil and 5–7 million ft3 of natural gas. Overall, hot
water represents approximately 95% of the uid stream as 120,000 bbl per day at
approximately 90°C are pumped and reinjected into the eld. Quantum Resources,
the operator, shut the eld down in 2009 but reopened the eld after securing tax
breaks from the state. If the geothermal project makes it to the commercial stage, it
would extend the production of oil and gas and provide energy and jobs.
For small producers, use of geothermal energy could reduce the cost of pumping
the uid. A demonstration project installed a 30-kW unit on an oil well (2,900 m
deep), which pumped 100 bbl oil and 4,000 bbl of water per day from a water ood
eld. The waste heat unit is expected to pay about one-third of the pumping costs with
a payback of 3–4 yr as it would replaced electric energy at $0.098/kWh for pumping.
Geopressure systems have reservoir pressures higher than hydrostatic pressure;
however, they have limited distribution. In addition to thermal energy, there is
kinetic energy and energy from methane. There is a large geopressure basin that runs
along the Gulf Coast of the United States from the Mexican border to Mississippi
with a geothermal resource of 46,000 EJ [3], and that does not count the energy
in the natural gas (methane). To date, there are no commercial projects, although
the geopressure characteristics have been studied extensively, wells were drilled,
and there has been a feasibility project. From late 1989 until early 1990, a 1-MWe
(megawatt electric) plant was operated on the Pleasant Bayou near Houston, Texas,
from a well that produced hot water and natural gas. About half of the power was
Geothermal Energy 225

TABLE 11.2
Estimated Geothermal Resource by
Type in the United States
Type Resource to 10 km, EJ
Convective 2.4–9.6 * 1021
Enhanced geothermal 1.4 * 1025
Conductive 1 * 1023
Oil/gas eld water 1.0–4.5 * 1017
Geopressure 0.7–1.7 * 1023
Magma energy 7.4 * 1022

generated by a binary cycle plant and about half by a gas engine with a generator.
The plant only operated for 6 months because of economics, primarily due to the low
price of natural gas at that time. The well was ow tested for about 5 yr with limited
drawdown, so the reservoir is suf ciently large to sustain production for many years.
There are several technical challenges for recovering geopressure energy.
Magma energy is localized, and there are many technical challenges.
The United States geothermal resource has been estimated for the different types
(Table 11.2). Also, the report [4] shows resource maps for different depths below
the surface.
The hydraulic power (m3-m/time) is determined by the volume pumped and the
dynamic head. The amount of power in the uid is calculated from the mass ow,
the enthalpy (energy/mass) at the input and output temperatures. Values for enthalpy
are obtained from tables.

P = (m/t) * (Eh1 − Eh2) (11.1)

where P is power, m/t is the mass ow (kg/s), Eh1 is the enthalpy at the wellhead
(heat/mass of saturated liquid, temperature 1, degrees kelvin), and Eh2 is the enthalpy
at the output (heat/mass of saturated liquid, temperature 2, degrees kelvin.

Example 11.1

A well produces the following: m/t = 32 kg/s, Eh1 = 377 kJ/kg (90°C), Eh2 =
209 kJ/kg (50°C).

P = 32 kg/s * (377 − 209) KJ/kg = 5,380 KJ/s = 5.4 MWt (megawatts thermal)

Because of the confidence level for fluid production, use 0.75, then P = 4.0 MWt
per well.

If you have to pump the uid to the surface, then that energy has to be subtracted
from energy obtained in the uid. The production for a geothermal eld can be esti-
mated [5] for the load data and use, especially peak demand. As noted, the design
engineer should have a fairly good idea of the characteristics of the reservoir.
226 Introduction to Renewable Energy

11.4 DIRECT USE

The direct use of geothermal energy in the world is estimated at 32,000–40,000 MWt;
however, the contribution of shallow reservoirs, especially for bathing, spas, local
space heating, and other small installations, is more dif cult to estimate. The main
direct uses are for space heating [6,7], bathing, and swimming. For the different
applications, capacity factors are estimated at 15–72%. The leading countries for
direct use are China, Sweden, the United States, Iceland, and Turkey. In Iceland,
direct use of geothermal energy is around 1,844 MWt, and 90% of the homes are
heated by geothermal hot water. Direct use in Europe is estimated at 14,140 MWt,
and the major countries making direct use are Sweden (3,840 MWt); Turkey
(1,385 MWt), primarily for district heating and swimming pools and spas; and
Germany (952 MWt) [6, 2007 data]. The main use of geothermal energy in Hungary
is for direct use with a production rate of 120 million m3/yr. However, due to the
high production, the hydraulic head has decreased 50–70 m, so now reinjection is
required. Direct use in China is over 2,000 MWt. Current U.S. installed capacity of
direct use systems is around 650 MWt.
Bathing, spas, and local space heating are generally from hot springs, so no exter-
nal energy may be needed to move the hot water. For other direct use systems, a well
is drilled into the reservoir, and there are pumps to bring the hot water to the surface.
Then, there are heat exchangers, pipes for distribution, controls, and a disposal system,
either on the surface or reinjected (Figure 11.8). Surface disposal means that water
quality standards must be met. Standard equipment is used in most direct use systems,
with allowances for water quality and temperature as corrosion and scaling may lead to
problems. Atmospheric oxygen must be prevented from entering energy district heating
waters, which can be accomplished by heat exchangers. A peaking system may be nec-
essary to meet maximum load, which can be a parallel source of energy or tank storage.
An interactive map of U.S. direct use projects is available (http://geoheat.oit.edu/
dusys.htm). Twenty-one case studies for the United States are available from the Geo-Heat
Center, Oregon Institute of Technology (http://geoheat.oit.edu/casestudies.htm).

80°C 55°C

Plate Heat
Exchanger

75°C Energy
User
System
Geothermal 60°C
Wells
80°C 60°C Pump
75°C

FIGURE 11.8 Diagram of direct use geothermal system with heat exchanger.
Geothermal Energy 227

11.4.1 SPRINGS, SPACE HEATING, OTHER

The earliest use of natural hot springs was for bathing and cooking; today, resorts,
swimming pools, and space heat are still major users of direct heat. Besides space
heating for homes, the use of geothermal energy expanded into other areas: green-
houses, aquaculture, drying of agriculture products and lumber, desalinization,
industrial processes that require heat, heated sidewalks, and even cooling.
There have been a few cases for which tubes are placed in the ground, and air
is circulated through the tubes for heating and cooling. The problem is that a large
mass of air needs to be circulated, and the heat exchange area with the ground also
needs to be large.

11.4.2 DISTRICT HEATING

District heating is used in a number of places in the world. Turkey uses 493 MWt
for district heating [8], and there are a number of district heating utilities in Europe
[9–11]:

France: 38 plants in the Paris region, others in Aquitaine

Italy: Po-plain (Ferrara), Tuscany
Germany: Northern Germany (e.g., Waren, Neustadt-Glewe), Munich area
(e.g., Erding, Unterschleissheim, Pullach)
Poland: Northern Poland (e.g., Pyrcyze), Tatra foothills (Zakopane)
Austria: North and south of the Alps (e.g., Altheim, Bad Blumau)
Hungary: All the Pannonian basin (e.g., Hódmezövásárhely, Kistelek)
Others: Denmark (Thisted, Copenhagen), Sweden (Lund, Malmö), Lithuania
(Klaipeda)

The district heating utility in Reykjavík, capital of Iceland, is the largest in the
world, as geothermal energy is used to heat the entire city and ve neighboring
communities. The geothermal power is about 780 MWt, and 60 million m3/yr of
hot water ow through the distribution system. Two of the low-temperature elds
are located within the city limits, and the other two (high temperature) are 20 km
northeast of Reykjavík. Initially, only the ow from springs and relatively shallow
artesian wells was used, but in the 1960s and early 1970s, production wells were
drilled in all the elds, and down-hole pumps were installed to increase the ow.
Pumping in the low-temperature elds lowered the water level, and surface springs
disappeared. By increasing water from the high-temperature elds, it was pos-
sible to reduce the pumping from the low-temperature elds, and the water level
increased. About 70% of the energy used for district heating comes from the
low-temperature elds; the rest is from the high-temperature elds. The water
from the low-temperature elds is used directly for heating and tap water. Due
to a high content of gases and minerals at the high-temperature elds, water and
steam are used to heat freshwater. From 1998, electricity has been cogenerated from
geothermal steam at another eld.
228 Introduction to Renewable Energy

The largest direct heating district in the United States is in Boise, Idaho [12]. The
district supplies heat to over 55 businesses in the downtown area, primarily space
heating, but the supply also includes hot water for recreation, greenhouses, and aqua-
culture. Now, 100% of the water is injected back into the aquifer.
The Oregon Institute of Technology campus in Klamath Falls has a district
heating system. Since 1964, the campus has been heated by geothermal hot water
from three wells. The combined capacity is 62 L/s of 89°C water, with an aver-
age heat utilization rate of 0.53 MWt and a peak rate of 5.6 MWt. In addition to
heating, a portion of the campus is cooled using an absorption chiller powered by
geothermal hot water. The chiller requires a ow of 38 L/s and produces 541 kW of
cooling capacity with 23 L/s of chilled water at 7°C. Plate heat exchangers have been
installed in all buildings to isolate exposure to the geothermal uids.

Case Studies
1. “Years of Direct Use–District Heating Riehen,” http://www.iea-gia.org/
documents/SiddiqiRiehenNZSustainWorkshop10Nov08.pdf.
2. Canton Basle-City, northwest Switzerland. Temperature 62°C, injection
temperature 29°C, production rate about 72 m3/h.
3. In Klamath Falls, Oregon, there are over 550 geothermal wells serving
a wide variety of uses. There is a city district heating system (8.5 MWt
at 99°C) and snow melt systems (1.2 MWt at 99°C) for sidewalks. See
"Geothermal in Oregon, Where It Is Being Used," http://www.oregon.
gov/ENERGY/RENEW/docs/tp124.pdf.

11.5 GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS

The installation of GHPs has been growing rapidly across the developed world. GHPs
can be used in almost all locations around the world. Since the ground temperature is
fairly constant, around 10°C at 5 m depth, the ground can be used as a reservoir for
heating and cooling with heat pumps, with heat taken out in the winter and injected
in the summer. The types of GHPs are ground or ground source, groundwater
source, and water source. Sometimes, the systems are referred to as geoexchange
systems. The system can be a closed loop with boreholes, lateral bed, and ponds and
lakes as the reservoir (Figure 11.9) and open loop (Figure 11.10) from an existing
water source with recharge or disposal. Heat pumps that use air as a reservoir have
auxiliary resistance heating during freezing weather, so GHPs are more ef cient.
The open-loop system uses well or surface body water as the heat exchange uid
that circulates directly through the GHP system. Once it has circulated through the
system, the water is returned through the well, a recharge well, or surface discharge.
This option is only practical if there is an adequate supply of relatively clean water,
and all local codes and regulations regarding groundwater discharge are met.
Which system is used depends on climate, soil conditions, available land, and
installed costs. The composition and properties of the soil and rock (which can affect
Geothermal Energy 229

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 11.9 Geothermal heat pump, closed-loop systems; (a) borehole, (b) lateral, and
(c) pond/lake.

FIGURE 11.10 Geothermal heat pump, open-loop system.

heat transfer rates) affect the design as soil with good heat transfer properties requires
less pipe. Also, the local conditions will determine whether lateral (Figure 11.11) or
boreholes are used. Ground- or surface water availability (depth, volume, and water
quality for open-loop systems) also plays a part in deciding what type of ground loop
to use. Before an open-loop system is installed, be sure the hydrology of the site is
known, so potential problems such as aquifer depletion and groundwater contamina-
tion can be avoided. Antifreeze uids circulated through closed-loop systems gener-
ally pose little to no environmental hazard.
The amount and layout of the location of underground utilities or sprinkler systems
also have to be considered in system design. Horizontal ground loops (generally
the most economical) are typically used for newly constructed buildings with suf-
cient land. Vertical installations or slinky installations are often used for existing
buildings because they minimize the disturbance to the landscape.
The biggest bene t of GHPs is that they use 25–50% less electricity than conven-
tional heating or cooling systems. GHPs can reduce energy consumption up to 44%
compared to air-source heat pumps and up to 72% compared to electric resistance
heating or conventional heating/cooling systems.
230 Introduction to Renewable Energy

(a)

(b)

FIGURE 11.11 Examples of closed-loop system, (a) lateral with vertical slinky (courtesy of
Virginia Tech) and (b) lateral with horizontal slinky (courtesy of Air Solutions).

The heating ef ciency of heat pumps is indicated by their coef cient of performance
(COP), which is the ratio of heat provided per energy input. The cooling ef ciency is
indicated by the energy ef ciency ratio (EER), which is the ratio of the heat removed to
the energy input. Units should have a COP of 2.8 or greater and an EER of 13 or greater.
In the United States, over 1 million GHPs have been installed as the Energy
Information Administration provides data on number of GHPs shipped (Figure 11.12)
by type: ARI-320 (water source), ARI-325/330 (groundwater and ground source),
ARI-870 (direct geoexchange), and other non-ARI (Figure 11.13). GHPs have a
major impact on direct use in the United States as GHPs provide more energy than
Geothermal Energy 231

140,000 1,800
# Cap
1,600
120,000
1,400
100,000
1,200

Capacity, MWt
Number 80,000 1,000

60,000 800
600
40,000
400
20,000
200
0 0
03 04 05 06 07 08

FIGURE 11.12 Number of geothermal heat pumps in the United States, shipped and capacity.

1,200
ARI-320
ARI-325/330
1,000
Other
Capacity, MWt

800

600

400

200

0
03 04 05 06 07 08

FIGURE 11.13 Capacity of geothermal heat pumps in the United States, shipped by type.

district heating. A ton is the unit used for heat pumps and air conditioners; 1 ton of
cooling = 12,000 Btu/h = 3.516 kW.
For the United States, case studies (by type and number of cases) are avail-
able from the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium (http://www.geoexchange.org/
index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=357): residential (7), commercial (5), of ce
building (7), schools (15), affordable housing (5), and government facilities (11).
In the European Union, the growth rate has been huge for GHPs [13], and by
the end of 2008 over 785,000 units had been installed, equivalent to 9,000 MWt of
capacity [14]. Germany is now the lead market, with 34,450 units installed in 2008
due to new incentives. A database of projects for Europe is available (http://www.
sepemo.eu/index.php?id=1). The use of GHPs increased in China in 2007, now esti-
mated at over 200 MWt. The Olympic Village buildings used GHP, which used
sewage water as the source.
232 Introduction to Renewable Energy

11.6 ELECTRICITY
Electricity is generated in conventional power plants using the high- and medium-
enthalpy heat reservoirs. The advantages of geothermal energy are as follows: It can
provide peaking and base load power, and it is modular in that more wells could be
drilled if the reservoir is large enough. Some disadvantages are the high mineral
content, which causes corrosion problems and environmental problems if downstream
water is disposed on the surface; limited distribution of reservoirs (however, not a large
problem if EGSs are considered); overproduction with need for pumps or reinjection
of uid; and a long period between start of project and commercial operation.
One aspect that was not given much consideration for EGSs was induction of
earthquakes. A 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 rst 6 days of water injection [15]. To stimulate the reservoir for a proposed
hot, dry rock geothermal project, approximately 11,500 m3 of water were injected
at high pressures into a 5-km deep well from December 2 to December 8, 2006.
A six-sensor borehole array, installed at depths between 300 and 2,700 m around the
well, recorded more than 10,500 events during the injection phase.
World installed capacity of electric power from geothermal energy is around
11,400 MWe, and production is around 75 TWh/yr (Figure 11.14). The United
States [16,17] has the largest capacity (Table 11.3) (3,152 MWe in 2009 and another
124 MWe under construction); however, the geothermal component is only 0.3% of
U.S. electric production. Other countries (Figure 11.15) obtain a larger percentage of
their electricity from geothermal sources; for example, New Zealand obtains 10%,
Iceland 17%, and the Philippines 23%.
The types of geothermal systems for producing electricity are dry rock (steam),
ash, and binary with 28%, 64%, and 8%, respectively, of the world geothermal
electric power plants (around 500). Average plant size was 44 MW for dry steam;
31 MW for ash; and 3.2 MW for binary. Theoretical thermodynamic ef ciency for
12,000 90
TWh MW

80
11,000
Electricity, TWh
Capacity, MWe

70
10,000

60

9,000
50

8,000 40
00 02 04 06 08

FIGURE 11.14 World installed capacity for electric power and energy from geothermal sources.
Geothermal Energy 233

TABLE 11.3
Electric Capacity (MW) of Geothermal
Power Plants, 2009 Estimate
United States 3,152 Nicaragua 143
Philippines 1,991 Turkey 83
Indonesia 1,192 Papua New Guinea 56
Mexico 1,178 Guatemala 53
Italy 910 Portugal 35
New Zealand 632 China 28
Iceland 580 France 17
Japan 535 Germany 8
El Salvador 204 Ethiopia 7
Costa Rica 197 Australia 1
Russia 185 Austria 1
Kenya 164 Thailand 0.3

16

14
United States
12
Philippines
Electricity, RWh

10
Indonesia
8 New Zealand

6 Iceland
Italy
4
Japan
2
Mexico
0
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

FIGURE 11.15 Leading countries, production of electric energy from geothermal sources.

generation of electricity from conventional steam plants is determined by tempera-

tures (Equation 2.5). A more ef cient system would be combined heat and power
(CHP), with the lower-temperature heat used before the uid is reinjected into the
reservoir. An EGS 1.5-MWe pilot project is located in Soultz, Alsace, France [18].

11.6.1 DRY STEAM

Power plants using dry steam systems (Figure 11.16) were the rst type of geothermal
power generation plants built. They use steam from the geothermal reservoir as it
comes from wells and route it directly through turbine/generator units to produce elec-
tricity. An example of dry steam generation can be found in the Geysers region (http://
www.geysers.com) in northern California; this is the largest geothermal project in the
234 Introduction to Renewable Energy

Generator
air
water vapor
Turbine
Condenser

Cooling
dry steam Tower
water air air

water
Water

Production Injection
Well Geothermal Zone
Well

FIGURE 11.16 Diagram of dry steam geothermal system.

world. The area was known for its hot springs in the mid-1800s, and the rst well for
power production was drilled in 1924. Staring in the 1950s, deeper wells were drilled,
and 26 power plants had been built by 1990, with a capacity of more than 2,000 MW.
Because of the rapid development in the 1980s and because of the operation of
surface discharge, the steam resource started declining in 1988. Today, the operat-
ing capacity is 725 MW; however, the Geysers facilities still meet over 50% of the
average electrical demand for northern California. The plants use an evaporative
water-cooling process to create a vacuum that pulls the steam through the turbine,
producing power more ef ciently. However, this process loses 60–80% of the steam
to the air, with no reinjection. Although the steam pressure was declining, the reser-
voir is still hot. To remedy the situation, the Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project
involves transporting 42,000 m3 per day of treated wastewater from neighboring com-
munities through a 64-km pipeline and injecting it into the ground to provide more
steam. The project came online in 2003, and further expansion is planned to increase
the wastewater to nearly 76,000 m3 per day [19]. One concern with open systems like
the Geysers is that they emit some air pollutants. Hydrogen sul de—a toxic gas with
a highly recognizable “rotten egg” odor—along with trace amounts of arsenic and
minerals are released in the steam.

11.6.2 FLASH
Flash steam plants (Figure 11.17) are the most common type of geothermal power
generation plants in operation today. They use water at temperatures greater than
182°C that is pumped under high pressure to the generation equipment at the
surface. On reaching the generation equipment, the pressure is suddenly reduced,
and some of the hot water is converted ( ashed) into steam, which is used to power
the turbine/generator units. The remaining hot water not ashed into steam and the
water condensed from the steam are generally pumped back into the reservoir. An
example of an area using the ash steam operation is the CalEnergy Navy I ash
geothermal power plant at the Coso geothermal eld.
Geothermal Energy 235

Generator
air
water vapor
Turbine
Condenser

Cooling

water
Tower
steam water air air
water
brine
brine

waste brine

Production Injection
Geothermal Zone
Well Well

FIGURE 11.17 Diagram of a ash geothermal system.

FIGURE 11.18 Yangbajain, Tibet, geothermal eld in 1990.

The most important eld in China is the Yangbajain eld in Tibet (Figure 11.18),
which has eight double ash units for a capacity of 24 MW. There are 18 wells with an
average depth of 200 m in the water-dominated shallow reservoir at 140–160°C. The
eld extension is only 4 km2, although there are indications of a thermal anomaly of
15 km2. The annual energy production is approximately 100 GWh, about 30% of the
needs of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. A deep reservoir has been discovered beneath
the shallow Yangbajain eld, characterized by high temperatures (250–330°C), with
an estimated potential of 50–90 MW. A 2,500-m exploratory well was drilled in
2004, reaching the deep reservoir at 1,000–1,300 m. Other plants are installed in
Langju, West Tibet (two double ash units, 1 MW each, 80–180°C), and a 1-MW
binary power station (60–170°C) is operating in Nagqu. In other regions of China,
two small 300-kW plants are operating in Guangdong and Hunan.
The Wairakei, New Zealand, power plant was rst commissioned in 1958, and
the present output is 140 MWe, with annual production averaging 1,250 GWh at a
236 Introduction to Renewable Energy

Generator air
water vapor
Turbine
Condenser
Cooling

iso-butane
Tower
air air
Heat Air
Exchanger water water

hot brine cool brine

Pump
Production Geothermal Zone Injection
Well Well

FIGURE 11.19 Diagram of a binary geothermal system.

capacity factor of 93%. At least 150 wells have been drilled in the eld, which gen-
erally produce uid at temperatures between 209°C and 261°C. About 5,300 tons
of uid, 1,500 tons steam, and 3,000 tons of water (130°C) per hour are currently
taken from the reservoir. Some of the steam is taken directly from shallow dry steam
production wells (up to 500 m deep) and piped to the turbines. About half of the
separated water is now reinjected, and half is discharged to the Waikato River. All
steam condensate is discharged to the river. There had been some subsistence in
some areas as the uids were removed. Information on all geothermal elds in New
Zealand is available from the New Zealand Geothermal Association.

11.6.3 BINARY PLANTS

Binary, also known as the ORC, geothermal power generation plants differ from
dry steam and ash steam systems because the water or steam from the geothermal
source never comes in contact with the turbine/generator units. In the binary system,
the water from the geothermal reservoir is used to heat another working uid, which
is vaporized and used to turn the turbine/generator units (Figure 11.19). The advan-
tage of the binary cycle plant is that it can operate with lower-temperature water,
107–182°C using working uids that have a lower boiling point than water. They
also do not produce air emissions. An example of a binary cycle power generation
system is the Mammoth Paci c binary geothermal power plants at the Casa Diablo,
California, geothermal eld.

11.6.4 COMBINED HEAT AND POWER

A CHP plant fueled by geothermal sources is similar to any other CHP in that the
lower-temperature uid after the production of electricity is used for other purposes
(Figure 11.20). For example, separated water from the Wairakei eld in New Zealand
is used to provide hot uids for the Netcor tourist facility and provides heat for a
prawn farm adjacent to the power station. In Iceland, a system has 45 MWe and