Electricity




Direct use data 2015
Country Capacity (MW) 2015
United States 17,415.91
Philippines 3.30
Indonesia 2.30
Mexico 155.82
Italy 1,014.00
New Zealand 487.45
Iceland 2,040.00
Japan 2,186.17
Iran 81.50
El Salvador 3.36
Kenya 22.40
Costa Rica 1.00
Russia 308.20
Turkey 2,886.30
Papua-New Guinea 0.10
Guatemala 2.31
Portugal 35.20
China 17,870.00
France 2,346.90
Ethiopia 2.20
Germany 2,848.60
Austria 903.40
Australia 16.09
Thailand 128.51

The International Geothermal Association (IGA) has reported that 10,715 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power in 24 countries is online, which was expected to generate 67,246 GWh of electricity in 2010. This represents a 20% increase in online capacity since 2005. IGA projects growth to 18,500 MW by 2015, due to the projects presently under consideration, often in areas previously assumed to have little exploitable resources.

In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity production with 3,086 MW of installed capacity from 77 power plants. 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 13% of Philippine electricity generation.

In 2016, Indonesia set in third with 1,647 MW online behind USA at 3,450 MW and the Philippines at 1,870 MW, but Indonesia will become second due to an additional online 130 MW at the end of 2016 and 255 MW in 2017. Indonesia's 28,994 MW are the largest geothermal reserves in the world, and it is predicted to overtake the US in the next decade.

Installed geothermal electric capacity
Country Capacity (MW)
2007 		Capacity (MW)
2010 		% of national
electricity
production 		% of global
geothermal
production
United States 2687 3086 0.3 29
Philippines 1969.7 1904 27 18
Indonesia 992 1197 3.7 11
Mexico 953 958 3 9
Italy 810.5 843 1.5 8
New Zealand 471.6 628 10 6
Iceland 421.2 575 30 5
Japan 535.2 536 0.1 5
Iran 250 250
El Salvador 204.2 204 25
Kenya 128.8 167 11.2
Costa Rica 162.5 166 14
Nicaragua 87.4 88 10
Russia 79 82
Turkey 38 82
Papua-New Guinea 56 56
Guatemala 53 52
Portugal 23 29
China 27.8 24
France 14.7 16
Ethiopia 7.3 7.3
Germany 8.4 6.6
Austria 1.1 1.4
Australia 0.2 1.1
Thailand 0.3 0.3
Total 9,981.9 10,959.7

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.

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. The laws of thermodynamics limits the efficiency of heat engines in extracting useful energy. Exhaust heat is wasted, unless it can be used directly and locally, for example in greenhouses, timber mills, and district heating. System efficiency does not materially affect operational costs as it would for plants that use fuel, but it does affect return on the capital used to build the plant. In order to produce more energy than the pumps consume, electricity generation requires relatively hot fields and specialized heat cycles.citation needed 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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Environmental effects

Image
Fluids drawn from the deep Earth carry a mixture of gases, notably carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ), hydrogen sulfide ( H 2 S ), methane ( CH 4 ) and ammonia ( NH 3 ). 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 CO 2 per megawatt-hour (MW·h) of electricity, a small fraction of the emission intensity of conventional fossil fuel plants. needs update 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 elements 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
Read more

Economics

Image
Geothermal power requires no fuel (except for pumps), and is therefore immune to fuel cost fluctuations. However, capital costs are significant. Drilling accounts for over half the costs, and exploration of deep resources entails significant risks. A typical well doublet (extraction and injection wells) in Nevada can support 4.5 megawatts (MW) and costs about $10 million to drill, with a 20% failure rate. In total, electrical plant construction and well drilling cost about €2–5 million per MW of electrical capacity, while the break-even price is 0.04–0.10 € per kW·h. Enhanced geothermal systems tend to be on the high side of these ranges, with capital costs above $4 million per MW and break-even above $0.054 per kW·h in 2007. Direct heating applications can use much shallower wells with lower temperatures, so smaller systems with lower costs and risks are feasible. Residential geothermal heat pumps with a capacity of 10 kilowatt (kW) are routinely installed for around $1–3,000 per kilo
Read more

Resources

Image
The Earth's internal thermal energy flows to the surface by conduction at a rate of 44.2 terawatts (TW), and is replenished by radioactive decay of minerals at a rate of 30 TW. These power rates are more than double humanity's current energy consumption from all primary sources, but most of this energy flow is not recoverable. In addition to the internal heat flows, the top layer of the surface to a depth of 10 m (33 ft) is heated by solar energy during the summer, and releases that energy and cools during the winter. Outside of the seasonal variations, the geothermal gradient of temperatures through the crust is 25–30 °C (77–86 °F) per km of depth in most of the world. The conductive heat flux averages 0.1 MW/km2. These values are much higher near tectonic plate boundaries where the crust is thinner. They may be further augmented by fluid circulation, either through magma conduits, hot springs, hydrothermal circulation or a combination of these. A geothermal heat pump can extr
Read more