"Remind me that the most fertile lands were built by the fires of volcanoes." -- Andrea Gibson, The Madness Vase.
Ninety-two (92) percent of Kenya's electricity comes from renewable resources. About 50 percent of all that is covered by the 5 geothermal power stations at Olkaria, near Hell's Gate National Park.That park is just a tiny part of the thousands of miles long East African Rift System, where the Indian, Arabian and African continental plates meet.
The big advantage of geothermal power is that it produces a steady base load of electricity -- currently 5GW at Olkaria, with an estimated total 10GW potential.
That has aroused the interest of the German government, co-investors and providers of technical expertise for the project. The potential for geothermal power in Germany, through deep (miles deep) drilling is estimated at a quarter of the country's heating needs: before 2030, at least 100 geothermal power projects should be in place.
Geothermal energy projects, however, are capital intensive -- the Olkaria project actually started getting steam in the 90s, mainly supported by the Japanese government and the United Nations Development Programme; Germany has been coinvesting for the last 20 years, alongside with the European Investment Bank. Besides, utility-scale solar and onshore wind is hovering at around $35 per MWh, while geothermal currently is slotted around $70 per MWh.
However, solar and wind are intermittent sources of energy: if you want to buy reliability, nuclear or coal- and gas-fired plants are your comparison. In an April 2023 comparison, investment bank Lazard comes to an estimated cost, unsubsidized, between $68 and $166 per MWh for coal, $141 and $221 for nuclear, and $61 to $102 per MWh for geothermal energy. Only gas-combined-cycle power generation could potentially be cheaper ($39 to $101 per MWh), for providing base load (see page 2 in the pdf).
In 2020, the United States was still the world leader in installed geothermal energy capacity of 3.673 GW, mainly in California and Nevada. The Okaria installation alone has eclipsed that.
On the bright side, geothermal power resource potential in the US is estimated at 530GW, while geothermal heat pumps maintain approximately 3% annual growth, with current installations exceeding 1.7 million units. According to the Department of Energy, improved technologies could help increase domestic geothermal power generation nearly 26-fold by 2050—reaching 60 GW of always-on, baseload energy capacity.
Have you been thinking of installing geothermal heating/power at your home?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Monday May 08, @05:18PM
We've looked into this in our area. It is a neat idea, if you can make it work. Here is a good start -> https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/maps/interactive-map-geothermal-resources-united-states [americangeosciences.org]
One major issue is the liquid that would be used for heat in whatever pipes you drill. Water? Not every place has enough water. Salts? They can be poisonous if a pipe breaks, and get into groundwater.
Depending on your area, the different gasses due to the areas you drill through, or to, can be an issue. Here we have many layers of coal and natural gas between the surface and the hot rocks, so you need to be cognizant of things like methane, benzene, etc..., so they don't leak into the air.
Currently the equipment is lacking for this type of project, so much needs to be done in terms of the infrastructure. Yes, we have drills, but they need to be updated from drilling for oil, to drilling to put a pipe loop into the ground. One needs pumps. One needs to be connected to the grid. Transmission lines are tough if you aren't already near one as there are no shortage of NIMBY's everywhere still. Control systems need to be developed for the masses. You'll need a team to help develop regulations for your lobbying team.
To me, this seems like a great time to develop these technologies. One might even make some bank if done right by developing the tools these future companies will need to do this. Patents galore are just waiting to be filed.
(Score: 2) by DadaDoofy on Monday May 08, @11:00PM (1 child)
Very nice! Finally, specific and detailed information on the projected cost and economics of the green technologically being promoted by the article.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Wednesday May 10, @11:56AM
Lazard -- from which I pulled those figures -- is the world's largest independent investment bank, serving the ultra-wealthy: which makes me assume their figures are reliable.
In related news, that other Big Bank, JPMorgan -- which took stakes [nevadaappeal.com] in a geothermal plant in Nevada -- is targeting $1 trillion in renewable energy investments before 2030; while 2022 was the first year investment in renewables equalled global investment in fossil fuels.
(Score: 2) by mrchew1982 on Tuesday May 09, @02:41AM
Ground source heat pumps are a semi affordable option for new construction. Higher upfront cost for the boreholes or digging out a field for laying loops of pipe, but they have a pretty quick payback of 3-5 years (mostly depending on labor cost and soil conditions in your area). The equipment is very reliable because of the constant temperature of ground water, but there aren't a lot of contractors that can/will install and maintain them correctly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09, @01:27PM
How much geothermal energy would you need to use to delay the next supervolcano eruption by a few days/months/years?
https://www.livescience.com/yellowstone-caldera-supervolcano-eruption [livescience.com]
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6376294_Geyser_Decline_and_Extinction_in_New_Zealand-Energy_Development_Impacts_and_Implications_for_Environmental_Management [researchgate.net]