A spreadsheet for geothermal energy cost evaluation

Journal Article · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Geo-Heat Center Quarterly Bulletin

OSTI ID:107725

Rafferty, K

In order to be seriously considered as an alternative in any project, an energy source must be easily characterized in terms of cost, both capital and unit energy cost. Historically, this has been a difficult hurdle for geothermal energy. Its costs vary with the depth and character of the resource, number of production and injection wells, and a host of other parameters. As a result, even in cases where developers are interested in using the geothermal, identifying its costs has been a cumbersome process. To address this problem, the Geo-Heat Center is developing a spreadsheet which will allow potential users to quickly evaluate the capital cost and unit energy cost of accessing a geothermal resource. Using resource, financing and operating inputs, the spreadsheet calculates the capital cost for production well(s), well pump(s), well head equipment, injection well(s), and connecting pipelines. These capital costs are used along with the quantity of annual energy to be supplied and financing information to produce a unit cost of energy. Unit costs for operation (maintenance and electricity) are added to arrive at a total unit cost in $ per million Btu for geothermal heat. To put this value into perspective, similar costs for an equivalently sized gas boiler plant are also calculated. These values can then be compared to determine the relative economic merit of geothermal for any specific set of circumstances. This information is particularly useful at the conceptual stage of a project when decisions as to fuel source are typically made by the developers. Cost data for geothermal systems was drawn primarily from past projects and vendor price data. Costs for well head piping and gas boiler equipment was taken from standard industry estimating guides.

• OSTI ID: 107725
• Journal Information: Geo-Heat Center Quarterly Bulletin, Journal Name: Geo-Heat Center Quarterly Bulletin Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 16; ISSN GCQBDW; ISSN 0276-1084
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
COST
ECONOMICS
EVALUATION
FINANCIAL DATA
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
GEOTHERMAL HEATING SYSTEMS