Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

Geothermal electricity costs in USD2000 cents per kWh
138
● Drilling: The cost of drilling a well can be a significant portion of the
overall plant cost. Drilling research has focused on means to reduce the
costs of drilling through hard rock in high-temperature, corrosive
environments. Recent accomplishments include the development of
slim-hole drilling that reduces costs by up to 50%, and improved drilling
control and tools.
● Enhanced geothermal systems: R&D is expected to bring about new and
improved processes and designs like Hot Dry Rock (HDR), currently being
tested in several areas.
Grouping generation plants can result in considerable economies of scale. By
bundling efforts, project costs per geothermal power plant can be lowered.
For smaller plant units under 5 MW, and especially below 1 MW (see Figure 52),
the cost per kW goes up significantly because of a loss in economies of scale
(equipment, component size), and because the fixed costs associated with
exploring a site and drilling wells are divided by a smaller number of
kilowatts. In addition, some minimum fixed O&M costs associated with
operating a plant become significant when divided by a smaller plant capacity.
However, small-scale plants can be built in a factory as skid-mounted units
and shipped anywhere in the world. Thus, quantity (manufacturing volume)
and quality can be increased and costs lowered.
Figure 52
Generation Costs in Relation to Plant Size in USD cents /kWh (in USD 2000 )
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Sources: Vimmerstedt and Entingh.
Plant size in kW
High Medium Low
GEOTHERMAL POWER X6