Title
Innovative approach for risk assessment in green field geothermal project
Author
Batini, F.
van Wees, J.-D.
TNO Bouw en Ondergrond
Publication year
2010
Abstract
At present, the worldwide geothermal energy production provides less than 1% of the world's energy needs but the geothermal resources confined in the first 6 km of the earth's crust are estimated to be in the fairly above 200 GW of which 50-80 GW are located in Europe. Exploring and developing at large scale untapped hydrothermal resources represent a major challenge for geothermal energy development worldwide. Several workflow processes, procedures and techniques are currently applied to locate and assess the geothermal potential in various geological contexts: sediments, volcanic, granites and metamorphic. Models and tools has been developed to forecast the performance of a green field geothermal project, but many uncertainties determine relevant risks for the investors in all the different phases of the single project and mainly in the exploration phase. The uncertainties are mainly related to the technical and economical performance (e.g. resource characteristics, the efficiency of power conversion systems, energy market conditions) but the environmental sustainability and the social acceptance might represent potential hurdles for the project development. This paper describes an innovative approach for risk assessment and mitigation applied for the exploration of green field geothermal projects. A holistic multi criteria analysis is applied to calculate the risk index of the project based on: a) resource characteristics (e.g. depth, temperature and sustainability along the whole life of the project), b) technological solution for power conversion systems (e.g. electricity and/or heat generation), c) market conditions (e.g. electricity price, tax regimes), d) the environmental and social factors (e.g. air emission, induced seismicity, natural parks). A guideline is proposed for the identification and ranking of the most promising areas suitable for sustainable geothermal project development in Europe.
Subject
Earth & Environment
SGE - Sustainable Geo Energy
EELS - Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences
Geological Survey Netherlands
Geosciences
Energy / Geological Survey Netherlands
Business models
EGS
Exploration
Risk assessment
Air emissions
Business models
Earth's crust
EGS
Electricity prices
Energy development
Energy markets
Energy needs
Environmental sustainability
Exploration
Exploration phase
Geothermal potential
Geothermal projects
Geothermal resources
Green fields
Induced seismicity
Innovative approaches
Market condition
Multi Criteria Analysis
Natural park
Power conversion systems
Project development
Project-based
Resource characteristic
Risk indices
Social acceptance
Social factor
Technological solution
Workflow process
Anoxic sediments
Geothermal fields
Geothermal prospecting
Geothermal wells
Parks
Rating
Renewable energy resources
Risk assessment
Structural geology
Sustainable development
Geothermal energy
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1429946f-3a12-4b9c-a57f-77c00cf8a0db
TNO identifier
429758
ISBN
9781617821844
ISSN
0193-5933
Source
Geothermal Resources Council Annual Meeting 2010, Geothermal 2010, 24 October 2010 through 27 October 2010, Sacramento, CA. Conference code: 84637, 34 1, 17-21
Series
Transactions - Geothermal Resources Council
Document type
conference paper