Geothermal Energy and Resilience in Arctic Countries

Conference · Wed Oct 06 04:00:00 EDT 2021

OSTI ID:1837026

Kolker, Amanda; Garber-Slaght, Robbin; Anderson, Ben; Reber, Tim; Zyatitsky, Karina; Pauling, Hannah

The eight Arctic countries have diverse energy systems but can be split into two distinct groups based on energy characteristics. The first group includes countries which are heavily gridconnected (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland); the second group includes countries with some grids as well as an abundance of remote microgrids, particularly in their more northern regions (Canada, Russia, the United States [Alaska], and Greenland). The primary energy source for both heat and power in remote communities is almost exclusively diesel. Geothermal energy is currently used in all eight Arctic countries, providing heat and sometimes electricity at utility scales and at the microgrid scale. However, the availability of geothermal resources is poorly defined in Arctic countries. We reframe geothermal heat and power as integrated energy systems, asking the question: are integrated geothermal energy systems - where available and economic - resilient solutions for communities in Arctic countries? Resilience attributes of integrated geothermal energy systems are identified, with a focus on microgrids and small-scale applications.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Geothermal Technologies Office (EE-4G)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1837026
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5700-80384; MainId:42587; UUID:cac442e8-7f30-49a1-a6ba-d5e57df48c6d; MainAdminID:63462
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
arctic energy
energy resilience
geothermal CHP
geothermal direct use
geothermal district heating
geothermal energy
thermal energy resilience