IGA NEWS
Newsletter of the International Geothermal Association
Quarterly No. 104

IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the President
Dear IGA member:
Welcome to the 104th IGA News. I’ve had many
opportunities during my travels in the last month, toobserve and participate in many renewable energy
conversations, and to gauge attitudes to renewableenergy in general.
Renewable energy is becoming an increasingly
important part of international, ministerial-level
conversations.
Barriers
torenewableenergydevelopments are being addressed, not just spoken to.
The World Bank’s ESMAP group has produced a
GlobalGeothermal
Development
Plan(http://www.esmap.org/Global%20Geothermal%20De
velopment%20Plan) that focuses on identifying andreducing financial and technical hurdles to geothermal
development. To date, eleven countries have benefited
from technical assistance. At the 3rd GGDP Roundtable
meeting in Reykjavik in April, representatives from 12
countries presented on financing geothermal
exploration and development. EnergyAccessX, aninitiative of the Clean Energy Ministry 7 meeting(http://www.cleanenergyministerial.org/Events/CEM7/Initiative-Events) in San Francisco, identified national
policy and regulation as major obstacles to renewableenergy projects. National policy-level discussions aremaking a real difference, and changes happen.
The third Iceland Geothermal Congress was held on 2629th April. Over 740 delegates from 46 countries
participated in the event. The conference had threemain themes: Operability – Plant and field management,
and solutions; Feasibility – Funding, policy, and casestudies; and Practicality – Direct and cascade use
projects. Iceland is a country of geothermal experts, andit was a pleasure to be at this conference which featured
many technically interesting and innovative ideas. It wasalso inspiring that three of the four opening session
speakers were women, and all the conference sessions
were chaired by women.
In the spirit of Icelands leadership with respect togender equality, I want to recognise three Māori women,
who are significant contributors to the New Zealandgeothermal industry. Ms Aroha Campbell, Chief
Executive of Tauhara North No. 2 Trust is consider
www.geothermal-energy.org

1

CONTENTS
IGA ACTIVITIES

Message from the President... 1
63rd IGA BoD Meeting and IGC 2016… 2
IGA Geothermal Expert Pool … 3
Election of the New IGA BoD for 2016-2018… 4
Invitation, IGA Academy & New Text Book… 5
Call for Voting for IGA Bylaws Amendment… 6
Green Climate Fund & UNFC Specifications… 7
Launching of REN 21 GSR 2016… 9

AFRICA

Eritrea & Ethiopia… 10
Kenya… 11
Zambia… 12

AMERICAS

Bolivia & Canada… 12
Caribbean… 13
Guatemala… 14
Latin America & Mexico… 15
North America & United States… 18

ASIA / PACIFIC RIM

India… 20
Indonesia… 21
Japan… 22
Malaysia & Philippines… 23

EUROPE

Armenia & Croatia… 25
Europe… 26
France & Germany… 27
Hungary & Iceland… 28
Turkey… 30

OCEANIA

Australia & New Zealand… 32

OTHER
Technology: Condensers & Mini-Plants… 33
Technology: Plasma & Microwave for Drilling… 34
Costs: Construction Costs in 2013… 35
Costs: Version Updated of GETEM… 36
Industry: Geothermal Plants Installed in 2015… 36
Industry: Chevron Geothermal Assets for Sale… 37
Climate Change: Ratification of Paris Agreement… 38
Climate Change: Breaking Climate Records… 39
Upcoming Events… 6
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

2

the key driver behind the successful development ofgeothermal projects on the trusts land, including the
Nga Awa Purua 138 MW geothermal power station.
The economic benefits of which, has enabled significant
investment in wellbeing initiatives for the owners anddescendants of the trust. Ms Campbell was recognisedwith the Queens Service Medal in December 2014 forher service to iwi and Maori land trusts.
Dr Charlotte Severne, Deputy Vice Chancellor for
Māori, Lincoln University (NZ) was the first Māori
woman to graduate with a PhD in geothermal science.
In June, Dr Severne was recognized for her efforts in
the Queens Birthday Honours, and received the Officerof the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services toscience and Māori.
Ms Tina Porou, Head of Sustainability at Contact
Energy, was also recognized in the Queens Birthday
Honours, and became a Member of the New ZealandOrder of Merit for her contributions to Māori and theenvironment.
These women exemplify commitment to their people
and the geothermal industry, which benefits all of us. I
salute them.

Mrs Aroha
Campbell, QSM.

Dr Charlotte
Severne, ONZM.

Ms Tina Porou,
MNZM.

Regards to all,Juliet Newson, PresidentInternational Geothermal Association

63rd IGA BoD Meeting and
Iceland Geothermal
Conference (IGC)
The IGA Board meeting No. 63 took place inReykjavik, Iceland on 29-30 April 2016, immediately
after the Iceland Geothermal Conference (IGC). The
topics discussed included the IGA Board elections (seenote below), bylaws amendments, the continuation ofwww.geothermal-energy.org

the IGA strategy discussion started in Morelia in
October 2015, the election of the Steering Committee
for the World Geothermal Congress (WGC) 2020, and avisit to the Harpa Conference Centre, where WGC 2020
will be held.
Twenty-two members of the Board of Directors
attended the meeting. They were: Rolf Bracke, PaulBrophy, Albert Genter, Lúdvik S. Georgsson, Luis C.A.
Gutiérrez‐Negrín, José Luis Henríquez, Herman Darnel
Ibrahim, Beata Kapinska, Juliet Newson, Bjarni Pálsson,
Zonghe Pang, Abadi Poernomo, Paul Quinlivan, Arni
Ragnarsson, Alexander Richter, Paolo Romagnoli,
Bruno Della Vedova, Alison Thompson, Shigeto
Yamada, Sadiq Zarrouk, Meseret Teklemariam
Zemedkun and Roland Horne. Also attending were:Horst Rüter (Managing Director of the IGA Service
Company, IGA SC), Andy Blair (WING representative),
Marietta Sander (IGA Executive Director) and Karolina
Andersson (IGA Assistant).
On May 1st, most of the BoD members who attended
the meeting participated in a day-long fieldtrip tonortheastern Iceland whose main purpose was to visit
the site where the new Theistareykir geothermal power
plant is being constructed by Landsvirkjun, the Icelandic
National Power Company that was created 50 years ago.
The trip started at the Reykjavik domestic airport to fly
up to Akureyri from where the group was taken to theunique landscape of Lake Myvatn, and to the Krafla andTheistareykir geothermal fields. The trip included a visitof the Myvatn Natural Baths and a short spin on snow
scoters. The group returned to Reykjavik in the evening.
The 2016 Iceland Geothermal Conference attracted
around 700 participants from 50 countries, and was thelargest geothermal event ever held in Iceland. The IGC,
held in Reykjavik, comprised four days of insightfulpresentations and speakers that covered critical
geothermal development issues. Keynote speakers
included Lilja Alfredsdóttir, Minister for Foreign Affairsof Iceland; Rachel Kyte, CEO & Special Representativeof the UN Secretary General for Sustainable Energy for
All; Dr. Hördur Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun; Ásgeir
Margeirsson, CEO of HS Orka; Prof. Michael Porter ofHarvard Business School, Adnan Z. Amin, Director
General of IRENA, and Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, thePresident of Iceland, who gave the final speech. With
over 30 side events, including one hosted by the WomenIn Geothermal (WING) group, paired with a networking
dinner, IGC provided a great environment to generate
discussions on important geothermal topics. The IGA
Secretariat had a booth at the IGC and contributed withfive interesting international coffee break/lunch breaktalks at the venue. There were a number of field trips togeothermal power plants and district heating
installations, and to the Reykjanes Geothermal
Resources Park.
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

3

Some of the Board members attended and contributed
to the WB ESMAP Global Geothermal Development
Plan: Roundtable 3, held in Reykjavik from 25-26 April.
Juliet Newson presented the keynote on ‘Geothermal
Markets, Financing and Technology Trends’. The
Roundtable provided a platform for donors, multilateralfinancing institutions, government officials, industry
experts and practitioners.
As
the
World
Geothermal
Congress2020 will be held in
Iceland,the
IGA
WGC2020
Steering
Committee used theopportunity to meet the
Icelandic
WGC2020
Organizing Committee
on site on 2nd May,
subsequent to the exciting
geothermal week.
Sources:
http://icelandnaturally.co
m/article/recap-icelandgeothermal-conferenceapril-26-29-2016,
http://www.geothermalenergy.org/publications_and_services/news/articl
e/iga-board-in-reykjavikiceland.html

IGA
Geothermal
Expert &CompanyPoolcountries registered their profiles
Geothermal Expert & Company Pool.

in

the

IGA

Over the last years, the need for a matchmaking
platform was expressed by project developers,
government representatives, development banks,international organizations, regional commissions and
IGA members, all in need for consultants with specific

Board members and companions during the field trip to the Theistareykir geothermal
field, in northern Iceland.

Marietta Sander, IGA Executive
Director
In late April, the IGA launched its Geothermal Expert& Company Pool, an online tool aimed to help project
developers, geothermal companies, development
partners, international organizations to find suitablepersonnel fast and directly. Geothermal experts andcompanies are invited to register their profiles with the
IGA via the online registry:
http://www.geothermalenergy.org/iga_service_gmbh/geothermal_expert_pool.
html.
The search function allows online searches of theconsultant and company database for by the following
categories: (a) Country where the expert resides; (b) Key
expertise; and (c) Language skills. By the end of June
2016, nearly 100 geothermal experts from a range of
www.geothermal-energy.org

expertise. Thus, the IGA created the geothermal expert
pool with the aim of providing hints on geothermal
expertise for the geothermal industry, project developers
and govern-mental institutions.
IGA herewith wishes to open networking andrecruitment opportunities for entities in need of
consultants, and for geothermal companies andconsultants looking for short or long termbusiness/employment opportunities. It is hoped thismatchmaking platform will help partners to recruitsuitable personnel fast and directly.
The IGA Geothermal Expert & Company Pool is filled
in by consultants and companies. The details marked
with a star (*) need to be filled in by the applicant andare displayed on the website. Other information is
optional. The applicants can upload technical papers,
CV and photo, which then will be made also visible towebsite users.
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
In case an applicant does not wish his/her name andother mandatory details to be displayed, he/she can add
a comment or send an e-mail to iga@hs-bochum.de
explaining the reason(s) of the request. It is understoodthat people in employment do not wish their employers
to see their profile displayed online. IGA will thenimpersonalize the profile and only publish certain details
to others after the applicant’s written approval.
The applicant has two options to register, either byfilling out the online form or by downloading theapplication form (a Word document). To register online,
please follow the link: http://www.geothermalenergy.org/iga_service_gmbh/geothermal_expert_pool.
html.

Election of the New IGA Boardof Directors for the Period
2016-2018
According to the Article 8 of IGA’s bylaws, the Boardof Directors (BoD) is the governmental body of the
Association and consists of a minimum of 20 and amaximum of 30 elected members, plus its past
President. They hold office for a term of three years andare elected amongst the membership by ballot. The
election is carried out by the Secretariat under thesupervision of the IGA’s Secretary. The same article
provides that no elected member of the Board can serve
more than two consecutive three-year terms. Once

www.geothermal-energy.org

4elected, the new BoD enters into office at the end of theAnnual General Meeting (AGM) following its election,and then selects the President, the Vice-President, theSecretary, the Treasurer and the chairs of the PermanentCommittees from its members.
Since May 20th the online voting platform for the Board
election has been accessible to the membership, and isopen until Tuesday, 19 July, 12 pm CEST. The IGA’s
Nominating Committee, which is one of the PermanentCommittees, assembled a final list of 43 candidates fromseveral countries, whose photos and statements weredisplayed online. The candidates ares displeyed inalphabetical order:
Bjarni Bjarnason (Iceland)
Andy Blair (New Zealand)
Rolf Bracke (Germany)
Paul Brophy (USA)Jane Brotheridge (New Zealand)Louis Capuano, Jr (USA)
Varun Chandrasekhar (India)
Gustavo Cuéllar (El Salvador)
Bruno Della Vedova (Italy)
Surya Dharma (Indonesia)
Ariel D. Fronda (Philippines)
Albert Genter (France)
Lúdvík S. Georgsson (Iceland)
Marek Hajto (Poland)Markus O. Häring (Switzerland)
Colin Harvey (New Zealand)José Luis Henríquez Miranda (El Salvador)
Li Hongying (China)
Georgina Izquierdo-Montalvo (Mexico)
Liu Jiurong (China)
Beata Kępińska (Poland)
Kristín Vala Matthíasdóttir (Iceland)Peter Meier (Switzerland)
George Melikadze (Georgia)
Abraham III Molina-Martínez (Mexico)
Diego Morata (Chile)
Paul Moya (Costa Rica)
Ali Mundakir (Indonesia)
Paul Mustakim (Indonesia)
Peter Omenda (Kenya)
György Pátzay (Hungary)
Abadi Poernomo (Indonesia)
Alexander Richter (Iceland)
Horst Rüter (Germany)
Andrew Sabin (USA)
Noel Salonga (Philippines)
Saulius Sliaupa (Lithuania)
Valentina Svalova (Russia)
Gábor Szita (Hungary)
Toshihiro Uchida (Japan)
Massimo Verdoya (Italy)
Shigeto Yamada (Japan)
Sadiq J. Zarrouk (New Zealand)
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IGA News No. 104
The new Board of Directors will commence their workin October 2016, after the 2016 AGM to be held in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the end of October. There,
the current and the new BoDs will meet.

Invitation to the IGA Annual
General Meeting (AGM)
The 2016 AGM will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
most likely on 30 October 2016 (specific date andlocation will be confirmed closer to time). It isorganized in close partnership with the ARGeo C6
regional
geothermal
conference(http://theargeo.org/C6/). The IGA Board of
Directors wishes to take this opportunity to inform you
about IGA activities over the last year and offer room
for information exchange with IGA members. The 2016
AGM will be held jointly with the 64th and 65th Board of
Directors meeting. According to Article 12 of Bylaws,
the general agenda of the AGM will be as follows:5
published by the IGA/IGA Academy; it contains useful
information on exploration methods and strategies. It is
authored by Colin Harvey, Horst Rüter, Graeme
Beardsmore and Inga Moeck.
The new book arose from an initial request from theInternational Finance Corporation (IFC) division of theWorld Bank, which was seeking a guide to geothermal
exploration to assist both developers and funding
agencies in reducing the risk of geothermal exploration
throughout the world. Two versions of the Best Practices
Guide for Geothermal Exploration were published in 2013
and 2015, and were made freely available through the
IGA and IFC websites.

1. Minutes of the preceding AGM.
2. Annual report of the Board of Directors.
3. Audited financial statement.
4. General business.
The AGM is open to all IGA members. If you plan toattend the meeting, please send a message to Marietta
Sander, the IGA Executive Director, to IGA@hsbochum.de.

IGA Academy: Call for
Lecturers
The IGA Academy is looking for geothermal specialists
who would like to offer academic or technicalgeothermal courses on behalf of the IGA Academy. The
IGA Education Committee and the IGA Secretariat will
review all the applications received, to ensure that the
IGA Academy will only offer courses led by highly
qualified lecturers. The pool of lectures and their fields
of expertise will be the basis for the upcoming IGA
Academy Course Program. Some courses will be offeredin cooperation with international universities and shallbe evaluated for future certification and accreditation. If
you would like to apply to become a lecturer on behalfof the IGA Academy, please feel free to apply via thefollowing
website:http://www.geothermalenergy.org/iga_academy/geothermal_experts.html?no_cache=1.

IGA’s New Textbook on
Geothermal Exploration
Geothermal Exploration, Global Strategies and Applications, is
a 200-page textbook on geothermal that is about to be
www.geothermal-energy.org

It responds to a desire of the IGA and the Geothermal
Academy at the Bochum University of Applied Scienceto produce a textbook to use in geothermal training
programs throughout the world. This book would nothave been possible without funding support from the
IGA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The textbook introduces the subject of geothermalenergy, its development around the world and defines aseries of ‘geothermal play types’ based on geologic
setting. It presents strategies and methodologies
appropriate for each play type to move a geothermal
exploration program to the stage of committing to
exploration drilling. These methodologies include
permitting, environmental, geology, geochemistry,geophysics and remote sensing techniques routinely
used throughout the world for specific play types. The
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IGA News No. 104
book covers a large number of geoscientific techniques
and focuses on their applications to both convective andconductive geothermal systems, with extensive
references to the international literature.
The authors of the 2nd Edition of the Best Practice Guide
for Geothermal Exploration (2014) have renewed theirassociation to prepare this text book. Dr. Colin Harvey
from New Zealand has an extensive background in
geothermal exploration in over 25 countries for over 30
years. Prof. Ing. Dr. Horst Rüter from Germany is anexpert in geophysical exploration. Dr. Graeme
Beardsmore has managed a geothermal explorationcompany in Australia for a decade and has chaired the
IGA’s Reserves and Resources Committee for the past
6 years. Prof. Dr. Inga Moeck chairs currently thesection Geothermics at the Leibniz Institute for AppliedGeophysics in Hannover, Germany and holds a
professor position in Geothermal Exploration at the
Bochum University for Applied Sciences.

Call for Voting on IGA Bylaws
Amendment
Marietta Sander, IGA Executive
Director
At the IGA’s BoD meeting held in Reykjavik, Icelandon 29 April 2016, the following bylaws amendments
were proposed and are herewith tabled to all IGA
members. Motion 63-2 was carried by the IGA Boardand reads as follows:“To approve the bylaws changes as recommended by
the bylaws committee with the exception of Art. 15 c
which shall read: ‘The geographic boundaries of Regions will bedefined by the IGA Board of Directors, may not overlap
geographically, and shall include at least two countries located in
the same region of the world’.
Moved by Gutierrez-Negrín, seconded by Sadiq. 1
abstention, 0 against. Carried.”
The new bylaws text reads as follows. The underlined
parts are the proposed amendments:
Art. 15 - Regional Branches(…) c. A Regional Branch must consist of at least 50
IGA Members (of any category defined in Art. 4) based
or working in a country located within a Region. The
geographic boundaries of Regions will be defined by the
IGA Board of Directors, may not overlap
geographically, and shall include at least two countries
located in the same region of the world. Members of a
Regional Branch must all be IGA Members.
d. Membership of the Branch is voluntary; all IGA
Members living or working within the area covered by
the Regional Branch (including members of the
www.geothermal-energy.org

6

UPCOMING EVENTS
4th Indonesia International Geothermal
Convention & Exhibition (IIGCE 2016)10-12 August 2016, Jakarta Indonesia(Special fee for IGA Members: US$400)
CHARGE, World’s First Energy Branding
Conference
19-20 September 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland
European Geothermal Congress (EGC2016)19-24 September 2016, Strasbourg, France
5th Polish Geothermal Congress
11-14 October 2016, Mszczonow, Poland
Held by the Polish Geothermal Society (Mainly
in Polish)
40th GRC Annual Meeting & GEA Geothermal
Energy Expo
23-26 October 2016, Sacramento, CA, US
6th African Rift Geothermal Conference(ARGeo-C6)
31 Oct-6 Nov 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
German Geothermal Congress (DGK 2016)29 Nov-1 Dec 2016, Essen, Germany
Note: Please check the IGA website for more
events.
founding Affiliated Organizations) are free to become
members or otherwise. Only Members who havenotified the Secretariat of the Regional Branch of theirwish to join the Branch shall be considered members of
the Regional Branch for the purposes of establishing
this quorum or having voting rights, etc., within the
Branch.
e. The IGA Secretariat of the Regional Branch shallmaintain a list of IGA members who have opted to
become members of the Regional Branch. This list shallbe the only official list of Regional Branch members.
The IGA Secretariat shall inform all IGA members
whenever a Regional Branch is formed, or dissolved.
f. Members wishing to resign from a Regional Branchmust notify the Secretariat of the Regional Branch inwriting to this effect. The Branch Forum (see Art. 15(h)and (l) below) may establish a rule specifying a period ofnotice before resignations can take effect, such periodof notice not to exceed 6 months.
(…) p. Should membership, defined as the number of
IGA Members residing or working in the region andJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
who are registered with the Secretariat of the Regional
Branch as wishing to participate in the Branch activities,
fall below the level defined in Art. 15(c), the Board of
Directors may decide to abolish the Branch. The
Regional Forum shall be given six months' written
notice of such a decision, within which period the
Executive Committee may reverse the decision should it
consider that the circumstances leading to the decision
have changed materially. On abolition, any financial
assets of the Branch may be reassigned at the sole
discretion of the Board of Directors.

7
at which they are made. In November 2015, the GCF
Board reached an important milestone in approving thefirst US$168 million of GCF funding for climate
adaptation and mitigation projects.

To complete the ratification process on the amended
bylaws, IGA members are invited to vote by sending an
e-mail to the Secretariat (iga@hs-bochum.de). The
deadline for the vote is Thursday, 1st September 2016.
Your voting options are ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If you do not sendan e-mail until the indicated deadline, it will be assumed
that your vote is positive regarding the Bylaws
amendment.

The IGA is Now an AccreditedObserver of the Green Climate
FundMarietta Sander, IGA Executive
Director
On 8th June, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) informed
the IGA about its new status. The Association is now an
officially accredited observer organization to the GCF,
which means that it now belongs to a vibrant networkof partners and decision makers on global funding.
Rights of GCF observers include the participation in
GCF Board meetings, providing strategic advice on thedesign, development and implementation of thestrategies, projects and activities to be financed by theFund. The IGA is also entitled to make interventions
relating to geothermal energy or other matters underconsideration by the GCF Board.
The Green Climate Fund is the designated governing
instrument created by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and wasestablished by 194 countries during the international
climate change negotiations (COP 17) in Durban, South
Africa. The Fund is designed to act as the operating
entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism. It aims
to support a paradigm shift in the global response to
climate change by allocating financial resources to lowemission and climate-resilient projects in developing
countries. Renewable energy projects using geothermalenergy are supported as well.
As of May 2016, the GCF has raised US$10.2 billion
equivalent in pledges from 42 state governments. The
objective is for all pledges to be converted into
contribution agreements within one year from the time
www.geothermal-energy.org

The GCF observer status fits in well with the strategic
IGA functions on advising on geothermal matters. Since
the foundation of the IGA, advisory services were
continuously provided to international organizations
and donor agencies such as the World Bank, IFC, KfW,
and others. On a technical/policy level close
collaborations exist with renewable energy entities like
IRENA, REN21, the REN Alliance and the 100%
Renewable Energy initiative. In 2015, the IGA received
the official UN observer status and liaises closely with
the UN Economic and Social Council. The IGA
regularly attends UNFCCC COP events and shows its
presence with side events and booths shared with REN
Alliance partners.

UNFC Geothermal Energy
Specifications Open for Public
Comment
Specifications for the application of the United Nations
Framework Classification for Fossil Energy and Mineral
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IGA News No. 104
Reserves and Resources 2009 (UNFC) to geothermalenergy resources were released on June 6th for publiccomment until August 4th.
Growing interest in renewable energy has highlighted aneed to harmonize the way in which renewable energy
potential is reported. Investors, regulators, governments
and consumers need a common comparison framework
for both renewable and non-renewable energy resources
to assess energy sustainability scenarios at project,company, country, region or world levels. With noglobally agreed geothermal standards, guidelines orcodes existing prior to the development of these
specifications, the inclusion of geothermal energy within
UNFC (United Nations Framework for Classification
for Fossil Energy and Mineral Reserves and Resources2009) will improve global communication in thegeothermal sector as part of the larger energy sector.
Whilst there is great potential for the development ofgeothermal energy, both for direct use of heat andelectricity generation, particularly in the developingworld, a lack of clear guidelines and standards is an
impediment to geothermal energy becoming a viableoption at a global scale. Through this public comment,
the views of all stakeholders are being sought to ensure
development of robust specifications that could be usedby governments, regulators, industry and financiersalike.
A Working Group, led by Professor Gioia Falcone of
Cranfield University, United Kingdom,
preparedthesegeothermal
specifications. The Working Group
comprises representatives from theUnited States National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, Geological andGeophysical Institute of Hungary, TNO
oftheNetherlands,
EnergyDevelopment Corporation of thePhilippines, University of Pisa of Italy,
GPC Instrumentation Process, Hogarth
EnergyResources,
JACOBS,
Landsvirkjun National Power Companyof Iceland, MAGAK and Mil-Tech UK
Ltd. The International Geothermal
Association (IGA), with whom UNECE
has a Memorandum of Understanding
to develop the Specifications andGuidelines for the application of UNFC
to geothermal energy, was also a key contributor. The
Working Group operates jointly under the Task Forceon Application of UNFC to Renewable Energy
Resources of the Expert Group and the IGA’s
Resources and Reserves Committee. David MacDonald,
Chair of the Expert Group on Resource Classification
and Vice President for Segment Reserves at BP, noted“There is currently no universally accepted classification
www.geothermal-energy.org

8system for geothermal energy resources and UNFC
offers a good starting point.”
Twelve application examples from Australia, Germany,
Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, thePhilippines and Russia are included with thespecifications to facilitate understanding of theapplicability of UNFC to geothermal energy resources.
Graeme Beardsmore, Chair of the IGA Reserves andResources Committee stated, “The application examples
illustrate how UNFC can be used to classify a wide
range of different geothermal projects. We now want
the public to test the framework by classifying their own
projects, and let us know of any issues that still need tobe addressed.“
UNFC has been developed by the Expert Group on
Resource Classification under the auspices of UNECE
and is applicable to all extractive activities worldwide,
including coal, gas, oil and uranium. Work has
progressed significantly to broaden its application toencompass renewables. Generic specifications forapplication to renewables were recently agreed on by theExpert Group at its annual meeting in April. In
September they will be submitted to the Committee on
Sustainable Energy for approval. This work on
specifications for geothermal energy is an important
stepping stone. Similar work on bioenergy is currently
underway and activities on hydro, solar and wind arebeing launched.

The draft specifications are available for publiccomment
on
the
UNECE
websiteat:
http://www.unece.org/energy/se/reserves.html.
For further information please contact Charlotte
Griffiths, UNECE Sustainable Energy Division, at:reserves.energy@unece.org.
Source: http://www.unece.org/?id=42942
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

Launching of REN21 GSR 2016
In early June, REN21 published the mostcomprehensive annual overview of the state ofrenewable energy: Renewables 2016 Global Status
Report (GSR). REN21 is a global network, being the
IGA one of its members. The annual Renewables
Global Status Report was first published in 2005 andhas become the most comprehensive and timely
overview of the status, recent developments and trends
in renewable energy markets, industries, investments,
and policy developments worldwide. GSR does notprovide analysis or forecast, and a network of 700
contributors, researchers, and authors from all over theworld provide the data. Several IGA members areamong them.
The 2016 GSR reveals that renewables are now firmly
established as competitive, mainstream sources ofenergy in many countries around the world. 2015 was arecord year for renewable energy installations.
Renewable power generating capacity saw its largest
increase ever, with an estimated 147 gigawatts (GW)
added. Modern renewable heat capacity also continued
to rise, and renewables use expanded in the transport
sector. Distributed renewable energy is advancing
rapidly to close the gap between the energy haves- andhave-nots.

9
These results were driven by several factors. First andforemost, renewables are now cost competitive withfossil fuels in many markets. In addition, government
leadership continues to play a key role in driving the
growth of renewables, particularly wind and solar, in the
power sector. As of early 2016, 173 countries had
renewable energy targets in place and 146 countries had
support policies. Cities, communities and companies areleading the rapidly expanding “100% Renewable”
movement, playing a vital role in advancing the global
energy transition.
Additional growth factors include better access tofinancing, concerns about energy security and theenvironment and the growing demand for modern
energy services in developing and emerging economies.
Christine Lins, Executive Secretary of REN21, said,“What is truly remarkable about these results is that they
were achieved at a time when fossil fuel prices were at
historic lows, and renewables remained at a significant
disadvantage in terms of government subsidies. For
every dollar spent boosting renewables, nearly four
dollars were spent to maintain our dependence on fossil
fuels.”
2015 was a record year not only for new installations,but also for investment –reaching US$286 billion
worldwide in renewable power and fuels. With China
accounting for more than one third of the global total,
developing countries surpassed developed countries intotal renewable energy investments for the first time.
With increased investment came an increase intechnological advances, cost reductions and jobs. There
are now 8.1 million people working in the renewableenergy sector –representing steady growth in stark
contrast with depressed labor markets in the broader
energy sector.
REN21’s Renewables 2016 Global Status Reportpresents developments and trends through the end of
2015, as well as observed trends from early 2016 whereavailable. This means that accelerated action to reducegreenhouse gas emissions stemming from the Paris
Climate Agreement in December is not reflected in the
results.
While trends are generally positive, the report highlights
several challenges that remain to be addressed if
governments are to fulfill their commitments to achievea global transition away from fossil fuels. These include:achieving effective integration of high shares ofrenewables into the grid; addressing policy and politicalinstability, regulatory barriers, and fiscal constraints.
Further, there is far less policy focus on transport and,particularly, heating and cooling, so these sectors areprogressing much more slowly.

www.geothermal-energy.org

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Arthouros Zervos, Chair of REN21, said: “Therenewables train is barreling down the tracks, but it’s
running on 20th century infrastructure –a system basedon outdated thinking where conventional base-load is
generated by fossil fuels and nuclear power. To
accelerate the transition to a healthier, more-secure andclimate-safe future, we need to build the equivalent of ahigh-speed rail network –a smarter, more flexible systemthat maximizes the use of variable sources of renewableenergy, and accommodates decentralized andcommunity-based generation.”
The full report and Key Findings can be freely
consulted and/or downloaded at www.ren21.net/gsr.
There it is also possible consult REN21’s Interactive
Map, which contains detailed country data and uses aninteractive interface, as well as Infographics.
Source: Press release of REN21.

AFRICA
Eritrea: Funding for
Exploration of Alid
Geothermal Field
A national energy plan for Eritrea was signed within theframework of the 11th European Development Fund
(EDF). As part of it, Eritrea will get up to €175 million(US$200 million) for investment in the energy sector,
including renovating the national power grid, building
stand-alone photovoltaic and wind power supply
systems in rural areas, and exploring for geothermal
resources. Additional €20 million will be provided tosupport the financial management activities of Eritrean
financial entities.
Eritrea is receiving funding for preliminary studies andexploration of the Alid geothermal field, which are
expected to be completed by 2020; €8 million (US$9million) are available for this project. Previous work on
this area was conducted at the Alid Volcanic center. In
1902, the Italian Institute for Military Geography
conducted a preliminary study of the Alid geothermal
manifestations. No further geothermal exploration
studies were done until 1973, when a reconnaissancesurvey was carried out by the Geological Survey ofEthiopia, sponsored by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP). Between 1973 and2005 several other studies were conducted. In 2008, an
MT/TEM resistivity survey was completed at Alid
under the sponsorship of ICEIDA (Icelandic
International Agency), which detected an anomaly at therift floor.
Currently, Eritrea relies on wood and charcoal to supply
78% its energy needs. Nationally, electricity coverage is38%, among the lowest in the world; in rural areas it iswww.geothermal-energy.org

10
only 10%. 98% of the small amount of electricity
generated in the country is based on imported fossil
fuels, putting a heavy financial burden on thegovernment. Therefore, the exploitation of geothermal
is seen as a great opportunity to develop its own sourceof energy.
Source: http://geeskaafrika.com/2016/04/11/eritreareceives-9m-in-eu-funding-for-geothermal-explorationwork/

Ethiopia: AU Hosts
Geothermal Seminar
A seminar was held at the African Union headquartersin Addis Ababa on late June, organized by the
Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility, which wasestablished in 2012 by the African Union Commission,
the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development and the EU-Africa
Infrastructure Trust Fund. The conference wasorganized to highlight the importance of improving
access to equity or other funding sources and therefore
play a catalytic role in establishing geothermal energy as
a strategic option in power expansion planning for theregion.
Commissioner for infrastructure and energy Dr. ElhamAU Commissioner for infrastructure and energy, Dr
Elham Ibrahim.
Ibrahim welcomed the delegates, among which wereGary Quince head of the EU delegation to the African
Union, Bruce Shepherd of New Zealand, Thomas
Terstegen, deputy head of mission of Germany, deputy
director general of the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA), energy ministers and ambassadors of
the East African Rift System.
While addressing delegates, Ibrahim noted the need toincrease the deployment of geothermal projects toincrease the rate of energy access in Africa, especiallywith the growth in populations. She further called toincrease the rate of energy access with reliable andJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
competitively
geothermal.

priced11
modernenergy,such

as“It is our responsibility as a continent to work together,join hands and coordinate our efforts to develop our
short, medium and long term plans to efficiently exploit
the resources thereby satisfy the continent's energy
needs”, she concluded.
New Zealand diplomat Shepherd emphasized theAfrican Union code of practice for Geothermal Drilling,which allows for explorations of new modes ofsustainable energy.

204753/geothermal-works-to-commence-in-bogoriasilali-block
Olkaria V Project to Be Started this Year – Last May,
Albert Mugo, Managing Director of the Kenya
Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), indicatedthat the 140 MW Olkaria V geothermal project wascurrently in the tendering process. “We expect to sign
the contract in October (…) so that construction can
begin by the end of year,” Mugo said. He added that thepower plant project was expected to take 30 months andthat KenGen had secured about US$410 million for it.

Ambassador Quince stated that geothermal is a strong
potential contribution to renewable energy developmentin Africa. He also noted that with the growing
population, geothermal energy is a unique option as itprovides a base load alternative with high capacity factor
to fossil fuel based electricity generation.
Source: http://www.esi-africa.com/news/ethiopia-auhosts-geothermal-seminar/

Kenya: Baringo-Silali, Olkaria
and New Energy Act
Phase 1 of the Baringo-Silali Project - Johnson P.
Ole Nchoe, CEO of the Geothermal Development
Company (GDC) stated that “I am happy to report that
GDC has signed a land agreement with affected
communities thus paving way for completion of a legal
opinion to KfW, and the subsequent disbursement offunds for the project”. KfW, a German governmentowned development bank, is financing GDC’s BaringoSilali geothermal project at a cost of €80 million(US$91.2 million).
Dr. Klaus Liebig, KfW Director noted that “due to theimportance of the Baringo-Silali project, KfW
deliberately decided to finance exploration drillingwhich is one of the riskiest phases of geothermal
development which, when successful unlocks further
financing.” He added that “we are ready to start the
project and we are happy to partner with GDC in thisvery important project for Kenya, for GDC and for
KfW.”
GDC has already signed contracts for a water supply
system and for drilling services. The contractor isgetting ready to start drilling 15-20 wells in the BaringoSilali Block. GDC reported that drilling operations willcommence in January 2017, that it will produce up to
200 MW of electricity, and that the total potential of theblock is estimated at 3000 MW.
Source: http://www.aeafrica.com/read_article.php?NID=7198,
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000
www.geothermal-energy.org

enough capital for expansion.”

Mugo said that thefirm hoped to connect
720 MW of new power
to the national grid in
the next four years. He
also invited banks andothers to invest morein KenGen, saying its“dividend scheme” is“one of the mostcompetitive, reliable
and sustainable in the
country.” He stated,“With the country’s
power
demandexpected to cross the4000 MW mark by
2020, success in the
future is dependent on
early planning and thatis why we are asking
shareholders to take up
their rights at this timeso that we can have

KenGen, which is 70% owned by the Government, hasa current installed power generating capacity of 1617
MW, out of which 509 MW are from geothermal.
Kenya’s current installed generation capacity is based on
geothermal (46.4 %), hydro (38.1 %), thermal (14.8 %),and wind (0.4 %).
Source:http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/201605/23/content_38518548.htm
New Energy Act Will Allow more Private
Geothermal Projects - The Kenyan Government will
limit its participation in the country’s geothermal
development as it seeks to open up the sector to private
investors. Energy Cabinet secretary Charles Keter said
that the ministry is currently constrained in funding
geothermal projects. This, along with the dearth ofqualified Kenyan geothermal technicians, makes it morecostly to produce electricity from geothermal sources,
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
despite geothermal being cheap. Thus, the need to open
up the sector to the private sector.
“We want Government participation to be limited,which will in the end open up the sector for private
investors… this will only be possible if the new policy is
fast-tracked,” Keter said. The new Energy Bill iscurrently before the Senate and upon its enactment,
Independent Power Producers are expected to be thestandard model for future renewable energy
development.
Source:http://www.mediamaxnetwork.co.ke/business/222587/state-moves-to-woo-geothermal-investors/

Zambia: Update on
Geothermal Exploration in the
Bwengwa River Region
The Zambian-headquartered geothermal explorationcompany Kalahari GeoEnergy Ltd provided an updateon its ongoing geothermal exploration in the Bwengwa
River area, within the Kafue Trough.
The Trough is a sedimentary basin filled by the Permian
Karoo sequence that overlies metamorphic basement
rocks; is located to the west of Lusaka and extends
westward into the Barotse Basin. The Company has
already identified six Geothermal Resource Areas,
including Bwengwa River.
The surface manifestations at the Bwengwa River
Geothermal Resource Area include geothermal springs
that extend over 7 km and lie on the southern bounding
fault of the Kafue Trough. To date ongoing exploration
has included the drilling of five temperature gradientholes totaling 1980 m.

Results confirm a geologic setting conducive forgeothermal hydrothermal systems and indicate a strong
probability of a medium-to-low enthalpy geothermal
resource that can support a power generation project ofat least 10MW. Heat-in-place, power density and heatflow methods were used, providing a consistentestimated usable resource capacity in the range of 1020MW.
The Bwengwa River Geothermal Resource Area
presents evidence for a minimum reservoir temperature
ranging from 130°C to more than 150°C, based on fluid
chemistry and temperature gradient hole data.
Permeability is confirmed by the discharge of the hot
www.geothermal-energy.org

12
springs along the regional bounding fault and theassociated geologic structures. The reservoir is in
fractured basement rocks at a shallow-to-medium depth
adjacent to the bounding fault. The source of water islocal meteoric water that is plentiful.
In order to test the conceptual geothermal reservoir
model for the Bwengwa River Geothermal Resource
Area, further characterize the geothermal reservoir
temperature, permeability, and size, and confirm initial
estimates of reservoir capacity, Kalahari GeoEnergy will
drill up to four additional slim exploration boreholes. If
the wells and subsequent testing are successful, theresults will be used in a feasibility study that could becompleted by July 2017.
Zambia and the surrounding countries are currently
facing severe energy deficits. Additional generating
capacity and distribution is considered essential for
Zambia to achieve its development goals. The Zambian
Government and other relevant institutions are taking
determined measures to engage the private sector anddiversify the country’s power industry.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/kalaharigeoenergy-gives-positive-update-on-the-geothermalresource-assessment-in-the-kafue-trough/

AMERICAS
Bolivia: Loan for a Pilot Plant
in Laguna Colorada
On late April, the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) signed
a loan agreement with the National Electricity Company(ENDE) for the construction of 65 MW of renewableenergy plants in the Potosi department. The bank will
lend a total of BOB849 million (US$122.8 million) to
ENDE to build the 60 MW Solar Uyuni photovoltaic(PV) plant and the initial 5 MW pilot plant at theLaguna Colorada geothermal field. ENDE has plans for
a 50 MW geothermal power plant in the first phase of
the project, expanding to 100 MW in phase two.
Currently, the country has approximately 40 MW of
installed renewable energy capacity. According to thegovernment, it expects to reach a total of about 500
MW of clean energy in 2018-2019.
Source: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/centralbank-of-bolivia-to-provide-loan-for-65-mw-ofrenewables-522821

Canada: Energy Discovery
Center in Alberta, High
Geothermal Potential in
Yukon
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Conversion of Abandoned Oil Well to Capture
Geothermal Energy - The Leduc #1 Energy
Discovery Centre in Devon, Alberta is converting anabandoned oil well to capture geothermal energy—afirst in Canada. It is part of the US$1.4-million Living
Energy Project, which will put the Centre on a path tobecome the world’s first carbon neutral oil museum,using renewable energy systems built by Western
Canadian oil service firms.
“Alberta has nearly 170,000 abandoned oil wells.
Converting them to geothermal energy helps oil
companies’ bottom line, cuts down methane leakage,
produces free energy and gets oil service firms back towork,” says Mitchell Pomphrey, manager of the Living
Energy Project. “It’s win-win-win for the industry,
taxpayers and the environment.”
The project’s features include North America’s largest
sun-tracking solar power unit, and a wind turbine
mounted on an oil rig derrick powering the geosystem’s
pumps.
It will allow visitors to stand surrounded by live energy
production of geo, solar, wind, oil, and gas, which theysmell, feel, hear and see as they interact with the energy
systems through a touch display. They can use voicecommands to tell the systems to store power, give moreheat, or turn off lights.

13which boosts efficiency at the interface of the central
power storage system and the renewable energy units
that feed it. The solar systems are mobile, built by oil
service firms and designed for Alberta’s oil patch andharsh climate —renewable energy is cheaper at remote,off-grid oil fields, than trucking in diesel for generators.
Source:http://www.albertaoilmagazine.com/2016/04/albertasite-canadas-first-abandoned-oil-well-geothermalconversion/
Yukon Geothermal Potential Could Be 1700 MW The Government of Yukon and the Canadian
Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) released areport on the potential for geothermal energy in Yukon.
The Yukon Geothermal Opportunities and Applications
Report, researched and written by the CanGEA,
addresses the economic, social and environmental
feasibility of harnessing renewable geothermal energy
for heat and power generation.
According to the report, Yukon’s geothermal potential
could be more than 1700 MW of energy. This isequivalent to 18 times the current energy supplied by
Yukon’s renewable electrical system (90 MW).
“Yukon is the third jurisdiction in Canada to assess andidentify its geothermal resource potential,” said Scott
Kent, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources.
“Based on limited, available data, CanGEA’s
conservative estimate of Yukon’s geothermal energy
potential represents an important renewable resource inmeeting the territory’s current and future energy needs.”
New favorability maps published on the Canadian
National Geothermal Database provide geological,
geophysical and environmental information for
identifying and evaluating Yukon’s geothermal potential.
The project was funded by the Canadian Northern
Economic Development Agency, the Government of
Yukon and the CanGEA, with contributions from the
Yukon Energy Corporation and the Takhini Hot Pools.
Source: http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/16170.html#.VzZ3ovl9600

At the heart of the project beats an ultra-smart energy
operations system, featuring gas-fueled advanced
combined heat and power technology that provides heatand power on command. The energy operations
platform also calls out to the converted well’s pumptelling it to speed up or slow down as it anticipates thebuilding’s heat needs and power peaks –Canada’s firstsmart geo-system.
This hydrocarbon-to-renewable bridging technology,
invented for Leduc #1, includes the first deployment in
Canada of leading hybrid-inverter AC-DC technology,
www.geothermal-energy.org

Caribbean: Developments in
Monserrat and Dominican
Republic
Third Well to Be Drilled in Monserrat - On late
April, the Government of Montserrat and the UK
Department for International Development (DFID)
announced that the contract for the drilling of the third
exploratory well at St Georges Hill in Montserrat wasawarded to the Iceland Drilling Company (IDC), at a
cost of £5.1 million (US$7.3 million). It is anticipatedthat IDC will mobilize in July 2016 and drilling toJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
commence in August 2016. Activity on the proposedsite has already begun with work starting on site
clearance, construction of the drilling pad, fencing,water supply and drainage.
The first two wells drilled on Montserrat are capable ofproviding approximately 2.4 MW of base load power.
The main purpose of the third well is for the reinjectionof the waste water from the power generation process.
However, if following drilling and testing, the third welloffers more potential as a production well, one of thefirst two wells will be used for reinjection purposes,
which will ensure that the geothermal brine water,
separated from the steam will, be disposed of in anenvironmentally safe manner.

14
Chief Operating Officer Doug Glaspey. He said the
Guatemalan government, through the National
Electrical Energy Commission, announced that it ispreparing to issue the RFP at the request of thecountry’s large power distributors.
US Geothermal is currently developing its 25 MW El
Ceibillo phase-one geothermal project, a flash steam
power plant that will be located southwest of Guatemala
City. Glaspey said that the company has retained
Iceland-based Mannvit Engineering to advise on
development of the wellfield and to construct thereservoir model for the project.

Whilst the drilling of the 3rd well is being undertaken,
The Geothermal Steering Committee will be developing
the business case for the next phase of power
generation and distribution.
Source:http://www.discovermni.com/2016/04/contractsigned-for-the-drilling-of-the-3rd-geothermalexploration-well-on-montserrat/
IDB Grants Geothermal Survey in Dominican
Republic - The Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) will grant the Energy and Mines Ministry
US$200,000 for a 12-month study of the country’s
geothermal potential. France’s National Geologic
Survey (BRGM) executive Philippe Gombert and InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) representative
Flora Montealegre signed the agreement, witnessed by
Energy and Mines minister Antonio Isa, and Frenchambassador Jose Gomez.
The ‘Specific Agreement to Evaluate the Geothermal
Potential of the Dominican Republic’ aims to determine
where there is enough geothermal energy to produce
electricity in areas that were defined as priority andsecondary in 1980. The areas to be assessed are Yayas
de Viajama – Constanza (central), Canoa, areas of San
Juan de la Maguana (west), Enriquillo (southwest) andPedro Santana, San José de las Matas (northcentral) andSurzacuyo.
Source:http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/technology/2016/4/29/59108/IDB-wants-to-know-if-the-country-cantap-its-geothermal-energy

Guatemala: Probable RFP for
40 MW
US Geothermal is expecting the Guatemalan
government to release a 40 MW request for proposals(RFP) exclusively for geothermal in the second quarterof 2016, according to the company’s President andwww.geothermal-energy.org

Flowing well EC-1. Photo by US Geothermal.
“El Ceibillo was located within a large volcanic
complex, and Mannvit has specific expertise in volcanic
host of geothermal systems,” he said. “We haveidentified the location for a large diameter well, which
will intersect the production zone…” Drilling of thisnew well, EC‐5, began in early June. Well EC‐5 istargeting the production zone previously encountered inwell EC‐2A. It will be used to test the geothermal
reservoir’s flow characteristics and provide critical datarequired for the numerical reservoir model being
developed by Mannvit. The size, production
characteristics, and power production capability of thereservoir will be decided after the results of the reservoir
model.
According to the company, phase one of the El Ceibillo
project will cost approximately US$140 million. The
company has not secured a power purchase agreement
for the project yet.
Sources:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/05/guatemala-will-seek-40-mw-of-geothermal-insecond-quarter-us-geothermal-execsays.html?cmpid=renewable05182016&eid=291021978&bid=1407677,
http://www.usgeothermal.com/News.aspx
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IGA News No. 104

Latin America: Germany to
Back CAF’s Financing inGeothermal Projects
The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (BMZ) and CAF (Corporación Andina de
Fomento), which is the development bank of Latin
America, signed in early May an agreement by which
they shall promote the development of projects that will
benefit, in the case of energy, countries such as
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. The
strategic alliance for the promotion of sustainable
development in Latin America between CAF and KfW
was deepened with the signing of an agreement in which
better conditions will be offered for financing
geothermal projects (€250 million or US$281 million).
The agreement's signing was lead by the institution’spresident, Enrique García, and the German ambassador
to Venezuela, Stefan Herzberg.

15
exploration surface studies as well as contingency grants
for exploration drilling. Initially €50M (US$56 million)
will be provided with follow-on funding anticipated. It
will also include technical assistance forums for thevarious stakeholders.
The Fund will be modeled after the existing risk
mitigation fund in East Africa. Qualified developers
could apply in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras andGuatemala.
IDA Fund Management, LLC, which includes Interlink
Capital, Inc., Dewhurst Group, LLC, and Ambata
Capital Partners, will serve as the Fund managers withoversight from KfW. Chris McCormick, a partner with
Ambata, will serve as the Senior Investment Officer inthe consortium. The Fund expects to be up and fully
operational by November 2016.
Sources:
https://www.caf.com/en/currently/news/2016/05/ger
many-to-back-cafs-financing-in-geothermal-projectsand-urban-transportation-for-latin-america-with-350million/, http://us9.campaignarchive1.com/?u=aff654a498350dbc38701ffd5&id=07f
036850b&e=8a5d15d9ea

México: Discouraging
Perspectives for Geothermal
Projects in the Current
Wholesale Power Market
Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, Chair of
the IGA’s Information Committe
Stefan Herzberger, the German Ambassador to
Venezuela (left), and Enrique García, CAF
President, during the signing of the agreement.
The first credit line of €250 million shall be allocated tolowering financing that CAF grants to geothermal
projects in the region, whether for supporting drillingfor measuring the potential of energy generation, or forthe very construction of the geothermal plant. This
credit line constitutes part of a program lead by KfW
and CAF, in which other agencies also participate andwhich arose in 2013 in order to identify the potential ofgeothermal energy in Latin America.
Afterwards, KfW announced the launch of thisinitiative, known as the Geothermal Development
Facility (GDF), Latin America (Fund). The GDF was
originally announced in December 2014 in theframework of the Sustainable Innovation forum of the
UN’s Conference of the Parties (COP) 20 in Lima,
Peru, with more supporters (see IGA News 98, pp. 1516). Now, the Fund includes both straight grants forwww.geothermal-energy.org

In early April, Mexico’s national energy control center(CENACE) published the results of the first long-term
electric power auction for the wholesale power market
held under the new energy regulations. Contracts wereawarded to 11 firms for renewable power generation
projects.
CENACE conducted the auction, requesting offers to
supply 6300 GWh annually to be acquired by the
Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), starting in
2018, through 15-year power purchase agreements(PPA). It also asked for bids for the acquisition of 6.3
million 20-year Clean Energy Certificates (CEC), one
per MWh produced using clean energy sources, and for
500 MW of backup power.
Clean energy sources are defined in the recently passed
law of energetic transition (Ley de Transición
Energética) as renewable sources (solar, wind,geothermal, biomass, less than 30 MW hydro, and oceanenergy), plus large hydro, nuclear, Carbon Capture andStorage (CCS) projects, co-generation, energy-efficient
projects and other low-emitters of GHG.
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IGA News No. 104
The buyer, CFE, had set in advance a top acquisition
price of less than US$0.07 per kWh, including the priceof energy plus CEC. This unitary price looked low for
power produced from clean sources, but the final pricesthat won the auction resulted even lower. Out of the
final 18 bids considered to be valid, CENACE awarded
11 companies almost 85% of the total 6300 GWh and
CECs, i.e. 5386 GWh and 5.38 million CEC, at an
average unit price of less than US$0.05 per kWh(including energy plus CEC): US$0.045/kWh for solarand US$0.055/kWh for wind.
The projects awarded were 11 solar (PV) plants (74% of
the total) and five wind farms (the remaining 26%),
totaling ~1900 MW of capacity to be installed in thestates of Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Coahuila,
Guanajuato, Jalisco, Tamaulipas and Yucatán. The
awarded firms were from Mexico, Spain, France, Italy,
Canada, the US and China, among which are Aldesa
Energías Renovables, Enel Green Power México,
Jinkosolar Investment, SunPower Systems México andVega Solar 1.
The second auction for long-term electric power
generation contracts was launched in May, and thewinner will be announced on September 30, 2016.
Winning projects must begin delivering power throughtheir contracts with CFE in 2019. This auction will
follow the same model as the first one, with firms
competing for long-term contracts with state utility
CFE. The utility may participate as an electricity
generator, through its subsidiaries.
According to SENER (Mexico’s Energy Secretariat), thesecond auction will also take into account thedifferences in the cost of electricity generation indifferent regions of the country so that power is to bepurchased where the grid most requires it. The initial
version of the conditions for the auction were publishedon mid-May and the final version in June. Accepted
offers to purchase power will be revealed on July 4.
Technical and economic proposals will be presented on
August 1-5 and September 21, respectively, and offers
to sell power will be analyzed starting on September 22.

16
However, there is a particular feature of clean
technologies that was not included in the final price ofthe offers: the intermittency of energy production, i.e.
the availability-reliability of the power plant. Generation
by PV and wind plants is intrinsically intermittent andunpredictable, and does vary daily and seasonally. Even
though CFE did not buy installed capacity but produced
electric power, it is not the same to get 200 GWh peryear with daily variations from zero to 40 MW, or to get
20 MWh steadily 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In thefirst case, the buyer (CFE) has to have some flexible
backup, which is costly, while in the second case can it
simply forget it.
It can be concluded that the results of this first public
auction for Mexico’s wholesale electric market werediscouraging for geothermal projects. The outcome ofthe second action may be different if the availability andreliability of geothermal power plants as baseload aretaken into account when assessing the final price per
kWh. It is recommended that SENER and CENACE
in some way will value this important geothermal power
generation feature in further public auctions. Otherwise,
geothermal projects will be restricted to PPAs withprivate off-takers… and the actual price in the Mexican
wholesale electric market will remain artificially low.

Mexico: New Geothermal
Plant, Research Project with
the EU & Agreement with New
Zealand
25MW Power Unit in Operation in Domo San
Pedro – The Mexican private company Grupo Dragón
has announced that a 3rd unit has been completed andwas being commissioned at the Domo San Pedro
geothermal field, located in Nayarit, the first private
geothermal field in Mexico. It is a condensing, flash unit
with a net capacity of 25MW, whose construction
Domo San Pedro - Aerial view of Unit 3.
Photo by Grupo Dragón.

Of course, no geothermal project can compete withunitary prices as low as US$0.05/kWh, especially forgreenfield projects, not only in Mexico but in most partsof the world. The front investments for geothermal
projects, which include the cost of initial exploration,
drilling production and injection wells, is much higher
than that of other renewable projects like PV and wind,whose resources (sun and wind) are freely available. In
addition, it is known that a greenfield geothermal
project takes twice the average time it takes for a windor PV project. All of it prevents geothermal projects tobe competitive with prices as low as those in this firstpublic auction.
www.geothermal-energy.org

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
started in October 2014 and it is currently under the
final performance tests. The power plant construction
as well as the manufacturing of the turbines andgenerators was made under a “turn-key” contract with
the Japanese Mitsubishi.
As of now, two back-pressure units of 5MW each havebeen in operation but they will be shut down and all thesteam flow will be redirected to the new condensing
unit. Even when back-pressure units have a higher
specific steam consumption per megawatt comparedwith condensing units, they offer flexibility, operational
and time advantages that the tailored large condensing
type units cannot offer. These two factors allow project
developers and utilities the possibility of a quick
deployment to start electricity generation directly at thewellheads or even in a centralized arrangement. The
size, simplicity and portability of these units, decreases
installation and commissioning time and costs for abouta third of that compared to standard condensed units,
mainly because the units can be utilized in different
projects without major adaptation.
This is the reason why in 2015 two 5MW ‘second hand’back-pressure units were bought, installed andcommissioned at the Domo San Pedro geothermal field.
These units were manufactured originally in 1990 by
ACEC in Belgium, were in service in fields of Central
America and were thoroughly serviced and upgraded in2014 by Grupo Dragón. The overhaul required a deepcleaning of blades, rotor balancing, cooling systemenhancements and replacement of the control
equipment with a cutting edge digital control systemwith semi-automated features. The quick deployment ofthese two back-pressure units helped Grupo Dragón
test well behavior and start commercial power
generation more than one year ahead of expectations.
Grupo Dragón plans to keep one of the two backpressure at the Domo San Pedro as a backup unit for
programmed shutdown maintenance works of thecondensing Unit 3, and the other unit is available to be
used in other geothermal projects worldwide.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/grupodragon-to-commission-25-5-mw-unit-3-at-domo-desan-pedro-inmexico/?utm_source=ThinkGeoEnergy+List&utm_ca
mpaign=fde186022aTGE_Newsletter_RSS1_12_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_657e42f767-fde186022a-415210497
First Joint Geothermal Research Project with the
EU - European and Mexican researchers will work
together on tapping into new sources of geothermalenergy in the context of GEMex, an international
project that was selected in a joint call launched by theEuropean Union and Mexico in November 2015. Carlos
Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science
www.geothermal-energy.org

17
and Innovation, and Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, Mexican
Secretary of Energy, announced it at the time of the
Clean Energy Ministerial Meeting held in San Francisco,California on 2 June 2016.
The EU and Mexico will contribute equally to the €20
million (US$22.7 million) project. The EU’s share will
come from Horizon 2020, its €77 billion (US$87.5
billion) research and innovation funding program (20142020); that of Mexico from its Fondo de Sustentabilidad
Energética SENER - Consejo Nacional de Ciencia yTecnología (Conacyt).
GEMex will develop innovative methods for accessing
geothermal resources such as superheated fluids and hot
dry rocks hosted in different types of geologic
formations. The ultimate objective of the project is tomake geothermal cost-effective and affordable both forelectricity and heat production. The project will adhere
to the strictest environmental standards and address
issues related to the social acceptance of the technology.
The three-year project will start in the autumn of 2016.
Mexican researchers are part of the CeMIE-Geo, theMexican Center for Innovation in Geothermal Energy.
Source:http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=newsalert&year=2016&na=na-030616
Mexico-New
Zealand
Educational
Agreement - Twenty
Mexican students will
have a chance tobegin study toward
their doctorates at the
University
ofAuckland each year asa result of a new
agreement. In lateJune the University
signed with Mexican
agencyConacytprovidingsponsorship for Mexican
students wishing to
study
full
PhD
degrees and also
promotingpostgraduate fellowship
visits between the twocountries. The newagreement will allow
PhD studies for 12months in any of the eight faculties at the University.
Mexican masters students may also propose visits of up
to six months for the purpose of gaining experience in
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
research projects while University of Auckland students
can also propose visits of similar duration to accredited
Mexican universities.
The agreement further strengthens ties between Mexico
and New Zealand. Mexico is New Zealand’s largest
trading partner in the Latin American region and one
area of considerable potential benefit between the twocountries is in the field of renewable energy research.
The University of Auckland hosts an Energy Centre and
its Geothermal Institute is actively engaged in researchand exchanges in Mexico. Head ofEngineering
Science,
Professor
Rosalind Archer sees potential for evenmore collaboration with the signing of
the Conacyt agreement.

18
Source: http://www.utilitydive.com/news/us-mexicocanada-pledge-50-renewables-and-nuclear-by-2025-innew-climate/421713/

United States: Geothermal
Projects in Salton Sea andNorth Dakota, EGS
Breakthrough and Proposed
EPA’s Rule

Source:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1
606/S00102/auckland-signs-landmarkagreement-with-mexico.htm

North America: The
Region Will Produce
50% of Electricity
from Clean Energy
Sources by 2025
The United States, Mexico and Canada
have agreed a new regional deal toHell’s Kitchen restaurant on Mullet Island, at the Salton Sea. (Photo:produce 50% of their combined
Courtesy of Salton Sea History Museum, taken from the referred source.)electricity generation by 2025 fromclean energy sources, including wind,
Plans to Develop a 250MW Power Plant in thesolar, nuclear, hydropower, geothermal among other
Salton Sea Area - The Salton Sea was accidentallyminor sources. The agreement was announced in lateformed when the Colorado River broke through an
June at a summit of the U.S. and Mexico Presidents andirrigation canal and created this large “artificial” lake in
the Canadian Prime Minister.
1908. Over time, water has been receding, leaving a hot
The deal builds on a slate of climate efforts from theand empty terrain that becomes filthier as the Salton Sea
Obama administration, including the EPA Clean Powershrinks and which has allowed gusting winds to kick up
Plan (CPP) and signing of the Paris Climate Agreement
dust from the exposed lakebed. Fish carcasses line thelast year. The CPP, currently under a judicial stayincreasingly salty lake, giving the area the typical rottenimposed by the Supreme Court, will be necessary in
egg stench. And yet, beneath the parched landscape lies
meeting the 50% goal.
a geothermal reservoir at temperatures as high as 700°F(370°C) that has been only partially tapped. Now, theThe deal is most ambitious for Mexico, which got less
Australian firm Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR),
than a fifth of its power from non-fossil resources lastbased in Brisbane, is planning to develop a massive
year. The nation is in the midst of privatizing its
power plant that will have the name of the once famouselectricity sector, with the state-owned power agency
restaurant and dance hall Hell’s Kitchen, built in 1908
selling off generation assets and opening new market
on the so-called Mullet Island –which is actually an
opportunities for independent suppliers. The U.S.
active volcano.
currently sources about a third of its power generationfrom renewable and nuclear resources, and Canada isover 80%. The climate accord did not limit itself tocarbon. Mexico would also sign on to provisions agreed
between Canada and the U.S. last year to cut methane
emissions by up to 45% by 2025.
www.geothermal-energy.org

There are already 11 geothermal plants by the southernshore of the lake, the largest in California, but only one
new power plant has opened since 2000. CTR plans tobuild its Hell’s Kitchen power plant five times bigger
than any of the other geothermal facilities in the area:
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
i.e., 250MW instead of 50. That would allow thecompany to sell the electricity at a relatively low price,which in turn could make a bank more likely to offer aloan.
Last March, the Australian company leased 1880 acres(760 hectares) from the Imperial Irrigation District,which owns the land where the project would be built.
CTR’s chief engineer, Jason Czapla, has moved from
Australia to El Centro, south of the lake, to oversee
operations. The company plans to drill exploratory wells
this fall, to start construction by 2018 and to open theplant by 2020.
Source:http://www.desertsun.com/story/tech/science/energy/2016/05/05/salton-sea-dreaming-biggeothermal/83845318/
First Permanent Facility to Co-produce Electricity
from Geothermal Resources at an Oil and Gas Well
- The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced thelaunch of the nation’s first commercial enterprise to coproduce electricity from geothermal resources at an oil
and gas well. With support from DOE’s GeothermalTechnologies Office (GTO), researchers at the
University of North Dakota (UND) successfully
generated geothermal power from hot water that flows
naturally from petroleum wells in the Williston
Sedimentary Basin in western North Dakota. This
technology offsets the need for costly transmission
construction and reduces energy costs at remote oilfields. The facility started generating electricity for the
first time in late April.

19
Source: http://energy.gov/eere/successstories/articles/eere-success-story-doe-funded-projectfirst-permanent-facility-co
Enhanced Geothermal Technology Breakthroughin Idaho – The U.S. Department of Energy’s
Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) is funding theRaft River EGS project, in Idaho, to facilitate new,innovative technology deployment and validation to
reduce costs and improve performance of these manmade geothermal reservoirs. The Energy & Geoscience
Institute at the University of Utah is demonstrating
stimulation techniques that connect a previously isolated
injection well, RRG-9, to the existing power production
wells. This makes existing geothermal reservoirs larger,
and more electricity can be added to the grid.
As of June 2016, the team observed more than a 50-foldincrease in well injectivity, from approximately 20
gallons per minute (gpm) (1.06 liters per second) tonearly 1,000 gpm at RRG-9. Regular fluid samples
collected from nearby production wells indicate new,
man-made connections between the RRG-9 and theexisting reservoir.
The fluid samples and increased well injectivity haveseveral important implications:

UND’s process to co-produce electricity involves theuse of hot ﬂuid —a by-product of oil, gas, and othermaterial harvesting processes. UND’s technology
features a special engine that can make steam fromwarm water pumped out of the ground with oil. The
heat in the water flashes into steam and drives a turbine
to generate electricity.
Low-temperature geothermal resources between 150°F
and 300°F (66 to 149°C) are widely available, having
historically been used in direct-use applications, such asheating. The coproduction of lower temperaturegeothermal electricity from oil wells holds the potential
to produce more than 30 GWh of electricity nationwide.
GTO continues to work with industry, academia, andnational laboratories to develop and deploy new lowtemperature and coproduction technologies that will
help the geothermal community achieve this potential.
UND and DOE were recognized by the Geothermal
Energy Association (GEA) with its 2016 Technological
Advancement Award in the ceremony held as part ofthe Baseload Renewable Energy Summit in Reno, NV
on June 7.
www.geothermal-energy.org

The RRG-9 ST-1 wellhead fitted with alubricator. A distributed temperature sensor
was run through the lubricator to measure wellbore temperatures. (Photo: GTO)
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104- The stimulation of RRG-9 has successfully enlarged
the size of the existing geothermal reservoir.
- The injection well, which was initially isolated, or subcommercial, has been incorporated into the existing
geothermal field. RRG-9 has greatly exceeded the
project teams’ target flow rate of 500 gpm. Pressures
within the reservoir have decreased with time, also
indicating that the reservoir is growing.
- The increased reservoir size and added injectivity will
yield an estimated 2.5 megawatts electric and eliminate
the need for drilling another US$3 million-US$4 million
injection well closer to the bore field.
- The team’s success demonstrates the importance oflow pressure thermal stimulation as the primarymechanism for improving well injectivity, in
conjunction with strategic high rate stimulation
techniques.
Broad collaboration on this EGS demonstration project
has contributed significantly to its success.
Collaboration between the academic community,
geothermal industry, and National Laboratories has
ensured a successful well stimulation project, andfacilitated collection of an immense amount of
temperature, pressure, flow, seismic, and tracer data.
This data will continue to be used for analysis, datainterpretation, and modeling efforts for years to come.
The final phase of this project will consist of long-term
data collection and analysis activities to understand thecreation and evolution of an EGS reservoir that isconnected to an existing geothermal reservoir. The datacollected here will further advance EGS technologies
and deployment, further contributing to theadvancement of EGS commercialization.
Source: http://energy.gov/eere/articles/eere-successstory-geothermal-technology-breakthrough-idahobuilding-upon-previous-egs
EPA Includes Geothermal in Its Proposed Rule for
the CEIP - The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has issued its proposed rule for the
Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP), and it
includes geothermal energy. Section III.C of the
proposed rule proposes the expansion of eligible
CEIP projects to include, in addition to wind andsolar, two other renewable energy technologies:
geothermal and hydropower. Ben Matek, Industry
Analyst of the Geothermal Energy Association(GEA), said: “While GEA is still reviewing the
proposed rule, we are pleased the EPA has
proposed to include geothermal technology aspart of its CEIP program…” Karl Gawell, GEA’s
Executive Director, commented: “We applaud the
EPA for proposing to include geothermal power
in its CEIP under the Clean Power Plan (…)
www.geothermal-energy.org

20
There are a significant amount of geothermal projects
that could be under development if provided market
incentives as proposed in the CEIP.”
The proposed rule of EPA can be downloaded at:https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/201606/documents/ceip-design-details-nprm.pdf.

ASIA/PACIFIC RIM
India: The Country Looks toHarness 10GW of Geothermal
Power by 2030
In its quest to increase its renewable energy portfolio,
India proposes to harness 10,000 MW (10 GW) of
geothermal energy by 2030 through active international
collaboration with countries such as the U.S.,
Philippines, Mexico and New Zealand.
The Indian government’s ministry of new andrenewable energy (MNRE) released on early June adocument titled Indian Geothermal Energy Development
Framework, deemed as the first step to define a ‘National
Policy for Development of Geothermal Resources inIndia’. The document states, “The geothermal policy
envisages to make a substantial contribution to India’s
long-term energy supply and reduce our national
greenhouse gas emissions by developing a sustainable,safe, secure, socially and environmentally responsible
geothermal energy industry (…) by the means ofdeployment of 1000 MW geothermal energy capacity inthe initial phase till 2022 and 10,000 MW by 2030.” The
entire 18-page document is freely available by visiting
http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/DraftGeothermal-frame-work-for-comments.pdf.
In the run-up to the Paris Climate Change summit inDecember 2015, the Indian government announced its
target of achieving 175 GW of renewable power by
2022 and 350 GW, or 40% of its total installed power

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
capacity, through renewable energy sources by 2030.
India’s central government has been actively supporting
geothermal research for over two decades. Systematicefforts to explore for geothermal resources firstcommenced in India in 1973, and several promisingsites were identified. Some of these are Cambay Graben
in Gujarat, Puga and Chhumathang in Jammu andKashmir, Tattapani in Chhattisgarh, Manikaran in
Himachal Pradesh, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and Rajgir
in Bihar.
The draft policy also stresses on the role and active
participation of states. The respective state governments
will facilitate land acquisition at determined prices anddecide on the royalties to be paid for the utilization ofgeothermal resources.
Source:http://www.livemint.com/Industry/qFWtAToDvYCY
qtKjTcfixH/India-looks-to-harness-10-GWgeothermal-power-by-2030.html

Indonesia: Geothermal
Projects in Aceh andSeulawah and Others to Be
TenderedState Companies to Cooperate on Geothermal
Power Project - The government companies Semen
Indonesia and Pertamina signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) on developing a potential
partnership in the oil and gas business. Among otherprojects, the two state firms would also work together inthe use of geothermal energy in Aceh, where Pertamina
would build a 50 MW geothermal power plant. The
electricity produced would be sent to Semen Indonesia’s
factory in the province.

21
is the most efficient and look at related environmental
issues.
Source:http://en.katadata.co.id/news/2016/04/25/convertingto-gas-will-save-semen-indonesia-idr-1-trillion-a-year
More Geothermal Projects to Be Tendered - The
Indonesian government will tender eight geothermal
power plants countrywide this year as part of efforts toreach a target of 7156 MW of electricity fromgeothermal energy.
On late April the Energy and Mineral Resources
Ministry’s geothermal director, Yunus Saefulhak, statedthat the geothermal power plant projects tendered in2016 amounted to approximately 1160 MW and were
expected to start operations in 2024. He said: “Thebidding for three of the geothermal power plants has
been completed, while the remaining five will be offeredin stages.” The projects completed are Way Ratai(55MW) in Lampung, Marana (20MW) in Central
Sulawesi and Gunung Talang Bukit Kili (20MW) in
West Sumatra. The remaining five are Gunung Gede
Pangrango (West Java), Gunung Hamiding (North
Maluku), Gunung Wilis (East Java), Graho Nyabu(Bengkulu), and Gunung Geureudong (Aceh).
On the other hand, the Ministry’s director general ofrenewable energy and energy conservation, Rida
Mulyana, said that the government was preparing three
regulations in the hope of increasing investment andspeeding up the development of geothermal resources.
The first government regulation would allow regions toreap economic benefits from geothermal power plant
projects, while the second regulation would cover the
direct use of geothermal resources for tourism,
agriculture and industry. The third regulation would
allow private companies to conduct surveys andexploration of potential geothermal reserves with aminimum of three wells. If activity was
successful, the companies would receive theright to a direct appointment over the area.
The regulation would stipulate that tenders
should prioritize a company’s proposed work
program and commitment to exploration overelectricity selling prices.
Source:http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/04/20/more-geothermal-power-projectstender.html

Pertamina’s president director Dwi Soetjipto explainedthat this was in compliance with the government
directive to reduce the use of fossil fuel. He stated that
this partnership would be able to ascertain which energy
www.geothermal-energy.org

Agreement on the Seulawah Geothermal
Project - After two years of negotiations, PT
Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) andPerusahaan Daerah Pembangunan Aceh (PDPA) signeda Shareholders Agreement on the Seulawah geothermal
power project. As the winner of the tender for thisproject, PGE was required to form a partnership with
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IGA News No. 104
PDPA to build and operate the geothermal power plantin the field. PT Pertamina and PDPA will establish a
joint venture company to be called PT Geothermal
Energy Seulawah (PT GES) to implement the project.
Pertamina as the capital provider will have a 75% sharewith PDPA holding the remaining 25%. PDPA will pay
for the share with a grant from KfW, a German
government-owned development bank based inFrankfurt.
The PDPA-PGE partnership is a concept under the
Public Private Partnership scheme. The German
government through KfW is expected to provide a loanof €56 million (US$64 million) to finance the project.
The Seulawah Agam concession, in the regency of Aceh
Besar, around 50 km southeast of Banda Aceh, isestimated to have a geothermal reserve equivalent to
165 MW. The first unit would have a capacity of 55
MW, and the exploration stage will cost around US$40
million according to PT Pertamina.
Source:http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/104611/acehpertamina-sign-seulawah-geothermal-shareholdersagreement
Three More Geothermal Plants for PGE - PT
Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) is ready tooperate three geothermal plants with a total capacity of
165 MW this year. These plants are Unit 3 in Ulubelu,
Lampung, with a capacity of 55MW, the Lahendong
Unit 5 in North Sulawesi with a capacity of 55MW, andthe Karaha Unit 1 in West Java with a capacity of
55MW.

22
Opening Ceremony for the commissioning of a Power+
Generator™ 4400 at a hot spring (onsen) in Beppu,
Japan. This is the first Power+ Generator in the
country; it utilizes geothermal heat to generate fuel-free,
emission-free electricity.
Commissioned in March, the Power+ runs off lowtemperature geothermal steam from a small district
heating system. The power is sold to the local utility at
an attractive feed-in-tariff rate for renewables
ElectraTherm utilizes Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
and proprietary technologies to generate up to 110 kWeof electricity from low temperature water ranging from77-122°C. At this site, the onsen provides geothermal
steam at 110°C. Instead of expensive cooling equipment
to lower the resource to a suitable temperature forheating, the water runs through the Power+ Generator
that simultaneously cools the water up to 20°C while
producing clean electricity.
“The Power+ Generator not only generates power andprofit it also solves a problem –cooling onsen water thatis otherwise too hot for human use”, said Kazunori
Ueda, Project Lead and Director of Sales & Marketing,
Sankou Denki. “With Japan’s feed-in-tariff rate for

The Ulubelu unit 3 is scheduled to begin operations inAugust, while the other plants in December 2016. PGE
has also completed drilling of exploration wells in thesethree fields; i.e., two wells in Ulubelu Unit 3, two in
Lahendong Unit 5, and three in Karaha Unit 1.
According to Tafif Azimudin, PGE’s Corporate
Secretary, “These geothermal projects are meant toboost the national energy security program. “The total
additional capacity installed in these geothermal plants is
160MW. Currently, the installed capacity of geothermal
power plants managed by PGE is 437MW.”
Source:http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/105249/pertam
ina-to-operate-three-geothermal-plants-in-2016

Japan: Commissioning of Mini
Plant, Insurance to Reduce
Concerns & Exploratory
Drilling in Fukushima
Geothermal Mini Plant Commissioned - In early
May, the Reno-based firm ElectraTherm hosted the
www.geothermal-energy.org

geothermal at 40 Yen/kWh (~US$0.33/kWh), we see astrong opportunity for profit at this site andapproximately 40 plus similar sites in the prefecture ofOita alone –and hundreds more at other districting
heating systems and onsens (hot springs) throughout
Japan. The minimal impact to the property with a small
footprint and quiet sound profile make this a hidden
gem for the local community, serving as a resource andproviding a fixed profit at a district heating system thathas been in operation for many years, and will continue
for many more.”
Source: http://electratherm.com/electratherm-powergenerator-commissioned-in-japan-on-geothermaldistrict-heating-system/
Insurance to Reduce Concerns of Hot Spring
Operators - Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Co. has begun offering a type of insurance intended toease the concern of hot spring operators about the
impact of new geothermal power stations. According to
Takeharu Kikuchi, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based
company, developers of geothermal power projects can
now buy an insurance policy that covers the cost of
surveys to determine if their projects are the cause ofchanges in the quality and volume of the waters in hot
springs. Until now, hot spring operators must pay forsuch surveys if they want to claim a nearby geothermal
power station is causing problems. Surveys can usually
cost between 5 and 30 million yen (US$47,000 to
282,000). The expansion of geothermal power in Japan
has been slow despite ample resources and even after
the country introduced an incentive program for clean
energy in 2012.
Source:http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/06/tokio-marine-insures-geothermal-developers-fromhot-springsrisk.html?cmpid=renewablegeothermal06162016&eid=291021978&bid=1434878
Exploratory Drilling in the Fukushima Prefecture Two exploration wells will be drilled at 1.9 kilometers at
the Bandai-Asahi national park, located in the
Fukushima Prefecture, 230 kilometers north of Tokyo
later this year, said Hisashi Jotaki, head of thegeothermal section at Idemitsu Kosan Co. The project
has gathered other 10 Japanese companies, joining
efforts to promote clean energy in the prefecture after
an earthquake in 2011 triggered the worst nuclear
accident since Chernobyl. Jotake said that surface
surveys began in 2013 to identify areas suitable fordrilling, and that they “decided to do this as we want
Fukushima to use geothermal power to help theirreconstruction efforts.” Companies will decide byMarch 2018 whether to move on to drilling wells,
depending on the results of the current survey, and the
project would come online in the 2020’s. Idemitsu isalso exploring the feasibility of two other geothermal
projects in the northern prefectures of Hokkaido andAkita.
Source:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-0624/idemitsu-to-begin-drilling-survey-for-fukushimageothermal-plan

Malaysia: First Exploration
Well at the Apas Kiri Project
Tawau Green Energy (TGE) is developing Malaysia’s
first geothermal power plant project at the Apas Kiri
Geothermal Field in Sabah, Malaysia. Recent resultsfrom the first exploratory well show very positive
indications of a commercially exploitable reservoir, withwww.geothermal-energy.org

23
a temperature of 191°C at a depth of 1359 meters. In
addition, the geological analysis of the well coring is alsostrongly supportive of a medium temperature reservoir.
The exploration well will be deepened up to 1700
meters. The drilling campaign currently plans for 2
exploratory, 7 production and 4 injection wells, and isbeing undertaken by Strada Energy International. TGE
plans to install a 30MW net binary ORC power plant tobe supplied by its partner, Exergy Spa of Italy.

View of the wellpad (Photo: TGE).

Source: News release from TGE, 22 June 2016

Philippines: Mabini &Maibarara, Probable
Geothermal FiT, Withdraw
from Coal Plants, EDC Plans
Drilling in Mabini and Maibarara - By early April,
the consortium formed by Basic Energy Corp., TransAsia Oil and Energy Development Corp. received
approval from the Department of Energy (DoE) for
their plan to drill an exploratory well in Mabini,
Batangas. The well is being drilled by Diamond Drilling
Corporation of the Philippines (DCCP) under a contract
valued at P48 million (US$ 1.04 million).
The 3841-hectare covered by the Mabini geothermal
service contract No. 8 is located in the Calumpang
Peninsula, and is projected to yield up to 60 MW basedon the pre-feasibility study. Basic Energy, the operatorof the service contract, has a 75% stake in the project.
Trans-Asia Oil’s equity participation is 25%. Basic
Energy previously said the decision to award thecontract to DDCP “followed the consortium’s rigorous
assessment of the technical capabilities of shortlisted
contractors vis-a-vis its approved budget.”
Drilling activities started in mid-May. According toTrans-Asia Oil, the exploratory well is expected to becompleted by mid-August. It is planned to reach a depthof 1500 meters to test the potential geothermal
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IGA News No. 104
resource, which was previously identified by geologicaland geophysical surveys.
Source:http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=E
conomy&title=basic-trans-asia-win-erc&8217sapproval-for-exploratory-well-in-mabinibatangas&id=125900
On the other hand, Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI)
has signed a contract with Desco Inc. to drill injection
well MB-17RD in the MGI’s Maibarara geothermal field
in Santo Tomas, Batangas. Drilling started in late May
and is programmed to reach a total depth of 1900
meters. MGI, the owner and developer of the Maibarara
geothermal-power facility, is a joint-venture company
owned 65% by PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC), 25%
by Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.
(TAO) and 10% by PNOC Renewables Corp. (PNOC
RC). MGI President, F.G. Delfin Jr., said that theimpending drilling comes after the final investment
decision (FID) was issued for the 12 MW Maibarara-2
project (M2) was approved by the MGI board on
January 18. Construction of the expanded steamfield
pipeline system by several contractors has been ongoingsince early February. The company’s 20-MW Maibarara1 integrated geothermal power facility wascommissioned in February 2014.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/maibararataps-desco-to-drill-geothermal-field-in-batangas/
EDC Asked for Geothermal FiT - Renewable energy
producer Energy Development Corp., a subsidiary ofFirst Gen Corp., asked the government to provide afeed-in-tariff (FiT) for geothermal power projects. EDC
president and COO Richard Tantoco said that future
geothermal projects would require a modest feed-in
tariff, “nowhere near where wind and solar are today
but in reality is significantly cheaper when the costs ofintermittency are factored in.”
“The whole EPIRA (Electric Power Industry ReformAct) is geared toward competition to reduce cost. But
we have to get people to accept and acknowledge thatfact that there are other costs not factored there,intermittency, carbon costs,” Tantoco said. It was
unveiled later that EDC is seeking a FiT charge of P5.00(US$ 0.11) to P6.00 (US$ 0.13) per kilowatt-hour.
Source:http://thestandard.com.ph/business/205460/geotherm
al-fit-pushed.html
On its part, the Department of Energy (DOE) is
acquiescent to proposals of including geothermal
technology in the array of renewable energy (RE)projects that shall be incentivized under the FiT system.
However, the Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada
said such set of perks may only be granted to project
www.geothermal-energy.org

24
developers based on the recommendation of the
National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), whichmust carry out an extensive study on the proposal, andshall subsequently lodge its policy recommendations to
the DoE for approval.
Monsada said: “It (FiT for geothermal) can beconsidered… we will have to review it.” The FiT
subsidy is typically extended to qualified projects at a
fixed rate for 20 years. She indicated that at this stage
they may only be amenable to granting FiT incentives tolow-enthalpy geothermal resources and to thosedevelopments of smaller capacities, adding that the
NREB must also assess what could be a more prudent
policy approach; whether FiT shall be based on steam
temperature, or the capacity or scale of the resource.
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/doe-open-to-fit-perksfor-geothermal/
Main Energy Group Drops Coal Power Plants Owners of EDC have announced that they “would notinvest in coal-fired power plants and called for adecarbonized economy.” The Chairman and CEO ofFirst Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH), Federico Lopez,
made the announcement during the company’s annual
stockholders’ meeting, stressing the negative effect ofemissions from coal-fired power plants on theenvironment.
Lopez said: “We are setting a higher bar for ourselves
but, for us, it cannot be any other way. We will help
power our nation’s growth ambitions yet achieve this in
ways that recognize the need for a livable Philippines
and a livable planet. Today let me state unequivocallyand for the record that the FPH and its subsidiaries will
not build, develop or invest in any coal-fired power
plant. I am certain that without having to look too far,this country already has many alternatives that do notmortgage the future of our children and the future of
our planet.” Instead of building coal-fired power plants,
FPH would push with the development of geothermal
power plants, as well as renewable energy sources like
wind, solar and hydro.
Source:http://thestandard.com.ph/business/206348/lopezgroup-drops-coal-plants.html
EDC’s Programs and Plans - Energy Development
Corp. (EDC) will complete by the first half of 2017 thestrategic technology optimization of its geothermal
power plants, which will augment the company’s
capacity by 50 MW. Richard Tantoco, president and
COO of EDC, said that the capacity of the Tongonan
geothermal power plant in Leyte will increase from 120
MW to 140 MW, that of Nasulo, in Negros Oriental,
from 49.4 MW to 69.4 MW, and that of Palinpinon, alsoin Negros Oriental, from 192.5 MW to 202.5 MW.
Tantoco also mentioned that the BacMan (BaconJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Manito) geothermal power plant has completed its
rehabilitation from the damage of super typhoon‘Yolanda’ (or Haiyan).

In other news, Tantoco indicated that EDC was looking
at geothermal business opportunities in Mexico. He
said: “In Mexico, we are not doing anything yet, but weare considering it. The country’s energy sector isprivatizing and deregulating, so we want to take a look,but we do not have concrete plans yet.” He indicatedthat while low oil prices had made the company to put
on hold its overseas geothermal projects, EDC was
optimistic it would benefit from supporting cleaner
technologies.

25
the first of two sites selected with previous studies.
Preliminary research indicates that a power plant at thesite would be able to produce between 30 MW and 50
MW of energy. “The purpose of this drilling is final
confirmation of the presence of geothermal resources
underground,” Harutyunyan said. “In case that result of
preliminary studies would be confirmed, we will launchhere construction of a geothermal station with thecapacity of at least 30 MW.”At the beginning of 2016, Armenia received a Strategic
Climate Fund Grant of US$8.55 million from the WorldBank for implementation of the project. According toestimates by Armenia’s Energy Ministry, the potential
capacity of the geothermal sector in the country totals
150 MW. This potential was identified in 2009 when
Armenia conducted magnetotelluric sounding of hot
groundwater indicating good potential for obtaining
energy from geothermal sources. In addition, someexperts say that that potential is steadily growing every
year, so it could be even bigger as of today.
“Due of the rapid development of relatively new
volcanic processes in the country, Armenia isconsidered one of the most promising areas for thedevelopment of geothermal power,” Tamara Babayan,
head of Armenian Renewable Energy and Energy
Saving Fund, said. “We expect the station construction
will be funded through private investments.”

In Chile, due to the recent downtrend in commodity
prices EDC decided to postpone its two-to-three welldrilling campaign for the Mariposa project originally set
for October 2015. Tantoco said that the company
would continue to pursue development activities at the
Mariposa project with greater focus, including
conducting further environmental and technical studiesof the steam field, power plant and transmission line
interconnection.

The overall investment amount of the project isestimated at US$ 45 million, but the final figure is yet to
be determined, since without a confirmed investor, it ishard to assess the actual cost for construction, according
to representatives of the ministry. Construction should
be launched in 2017, so the station could becommissioned by 2020. The project is believed to be thebiggest geothermal power station in the Caucasianregion and one of the biggest in post-Soviet Union
space.

Sources:
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1141465737011/e
dc-to-optimize-geothermal-power-plants-by-first-halfof-next-year,
http://thestandard.com.ph/business/208123/edcstudying-mexico-project.html

Armenia has been promoting the development of
renewable energy resources since 2009, when the
country’s government adopted a program for promoting
construction of small hydro power plants across thecountry in order to cut dependence on importedhydrocarbons.

EUROPE

Source:http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/06/armenia-begins-drilling-for-major-geothermalstation.html

Armenia: Exploration Well in
the South of the Country
In the second half of June, Armenia launchedreconnaissance drilling of geothermal wells near
Kyarkyar City in the southern part the country,
according to Hayk Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister ofEnergy and Natural Resources. He said the location iswww.geothermal-energy.org

Croatia: Proposed Hybrid
Geothermal Power Plant
Recently, a new investment project in Croatia recently
began construction activities in Draskovec/Medjimurje.
In early April, the opening ceremony was held at the
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

26

construction site, where AAT Geothermae, the investor
funding the project, welcomed the Croatian Minister of
Economy, Tomislav Panenić and the Minister ofEnvironment and Nature Protection, Slaven Dobrović.
AAT Geothermae is supported by the Ministry of
Economy of Croatia, the Medjimurje County and theCity of Prelog, and is a technology pilot project thatputs the Republic, the County and the City on theinternational landscape of producing power fromrenewable sources. The geothermal undertaking is oneof a handful of major projects currently underdevelopment in the country. Overall, it will attract
entrepreneurs, and create business opportunities andjobs that will lead to a better quality of life in the region.
In about two years, the initial Prelog customers arescheduled to receive heat from the hybrid power plant
being built in Draskovec. It will be the first such plant in
Croatia that will supply geothermal heat to companies in
economic/industrial zones, to households, and to farms
interested in growing vegetables in geothermally heatedgreenhouses. Peter Vesenjak, advisor to AAT
Geothermae said, “Works in Draskovec are alreadyunderway. We want to complete the power plant by theend of the year (2016) and the project is currently in the
deep drilling phase. We started working on otherinfrastructural parts of the project, such as cables
connected to the main power line, and we are preparing
for the construction of the access road and drainage
system for the power plant”.
The power plant is the first phase of a much wider
project named Hortus Croatiae, or Garden of Croatia.
The next scheduled phase is a health resort/spa center,water park, and mineral water bottling plant. The cost of
the project is about US$86 million.
Source: https://www.total-croatianews.com/business/10753-the-garden-of-croatiahortus-croatiae-renewable-energy-project

Europe: Promotion of an ETIPon Deep Geothermal
In early April, more than 50 experts from all over
Europe met in Brussels to begin the process of creating
a European Technology and Innovation Platform(ETIP) for deep geothermal. During the meeting,participants discussed the draft terms of reference andselected the members of the provisional Steering
Committee. The chair of this ETIP is Ruggero Bertani(Enel Green Power), Vice Chairs are Marco Baresi andJan Diederick VanWees; other members are Miklos
Antics, Roy Baria, Fausto Batini, Chistian Boissavy,
Sylvie Gentier, Ernst Huenges, Peter Kovacs, Bruno
Leray, Adele Manzella, Hjalti Pall, Paul Ramsak, Pierre
Vergnes, and Paul Younger.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Recently, the European Commission (EC) recognized
the ETIPs as a tool to strengthen cooperation withstakeholders under the Strategic Energy Technology
Plan (SET-Plan), as part of the Horizon 2020 program.
The EC expects the ETIPs to provide strategic
recommendations to and inputs for the SET Plan
Steering Group on its 10 priorities, mobilize actors
towards implementation activities, and contribute tofuture updates of the SET Plan Integrated Roadmap.
Existing European Industrial Initiatives don’t include
geothermal energy, although the EC has recognized theneed for measures, such as an ETIP, to support the
deployment of the next generation of geothermal powerand heat plants. The European geothermal sector
should therefore create an ETIP on deep geothermal,
and ask for its official recognition and support from theEC authorities.
Enel Green Power, one of the main geothermal
operators in Europe and the world, with the active
support of the European Geothermal Energy Council(EGEC), have been asked by the EC to be the promoterof such an initiative. An application for recognition as
an official ETIP by the Commission will be made by theprovisional steering committee before this summer.
Source: http://egec.info/successful-kick-off-event-foretip-deep-geothermal/

Europe: Project GRETA
The EU-Project GRETA –Near-surface Geothermal
Resources in the Territory of the Alpine Space-- started
early this year. Its main aim is to foster the near-surface
geothermal energy use in the Alpine region, improving
energy efficiency and the sustainable production ofgeothermal energy.
GRETA is built on three specific objectives:- Increase the knowledge of the spatial distribution of
Near-Surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE) potential in
the Alpine region.
- Exchange knowledge and best practices for theutilization of NSGE on a transnational basis.
- Develop a knowledge base for the inclusion of NSGE
in planning tools.
These objectives will be accomplished by creating
geothermal potential maps that act as a decision support
tool for the integration of NSGE into policy
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IGA News No. 104
instruments, e.g. energy plans and strategies, and can beused for the spatial planning of geothermal installations
by public and private stakeholders.
In addition, guidelines will be developed to encourage
the harmonization of regulations, authorization
procedures and operational criteria for NSGE utilizationin the Alpine region. Strategies for the inclusion of
NSGE in policy instruments will also be formulated,thus contributing to a growth of NSGE utilization.
GRETA is co-financed by the European Regional
Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space
Programme, a transnational cooperation program for
the Alpine region. It provides a framework to facilitate
the cooperation between economic, social andenvironmental key players in seven Alpine countries, aswell as between various institutional levels such as
academia, administration, business and innovation
sectors, and policy making. In the current 2014-2020
period the program is investing €139 million (US$155
million) in projects through which key actors develop
shared solutions for prevalent Alpine issues.
Dr. Kai Zosseder (TU Munich), coordinator of the
GRETA Project, said, “The GRETA project will bringnew opportunities to the utilization of near-surface
geothermal energy and foster the efficient
implementation and operation of near-surface
geothermal systems in the Alpine Space. We are looking
forward to achieving this with close interaction andcontinuous feedback of our observers andstakeholders.”
More
info
at
www.alpinespace.eu/projects/greta.

27
bottom is 1200 m away from well GRT-1; it produces~70 l/s (~250 t/h) of geothermal fluids at 170°C, anddid not need stimulation. The geothermal fluids are sent
through the heat exchanger, located on the outskirts ofRittershoffen, and then reinjected into GRT-1 at atemperature of ~70°C. The heated fresh water leaving
the exchanger is sent to the biorefinery located on theoutskirts of Beinheim, through a 15 km-long, hightemperature pipeline with a minimum loss of 4°C.
Afterwards, the fresh water is returned to the heatexchanger through another 15-km pipeline to repeat thecycle.
The ECOGI project is the first EGS (Enhanced orEngineered Geothermal System) project for industrial
applications in France, with a total cost of €55 million(US$62.5 million), 43% of which was financed by the
Renewable Heat Fund from ADEME (Agency ofEnvironment and Energy Management). It will provide
about 25% of the heat needed by the biorefinery andwill replace some 16,000 tons of oil equivalent of fossil
fuel, thus preventing 39,000 tons of CO2 emissions
each year. The project was officially inaugurated by
Ségolène Royal, the France Minister of Environment,
Energy and Marine Affairs, on June 7.

Source: Press release.

France: ECOGI Project
Inaugurated
ECOGI (Exploitation de la Chaleur d’Origine
Géothermale pour l’Industrie; Exploitation of heat ofgeothermal origin for the industry, in English), is a joint
initiative of Electricité de Strasbourg (ES), the local
utility in the city of Strasbourg (Alsace), the biorefinery
Roquette Frères, and the bank Caisse des Dépôts. ES
and the biorefinery each hold 40% of the shares and thebank the remaining 20%.
The initiative is focused on a project at the commune of
Rittershoffen, Strasbourg, in north-eastern France,
within the Upper Rhine Graben, that started in 2011.
The project consists of two geothermal wells (GRT-1
and GRT-2), heat exchangers, conduction pipes and a
24 MWth steam generator.
GRT-1 is a 2600 m-deep vertical re-injection well whose
original ~25 l/s (liters per second) capacity was
hydraulically enhanced to ~80 l/s (~280 t/h). GRT-2 is
a 3200 m long directional well (2500 m deep), whose
www.geothermal-energy.org

Ségolène Royal in the opening of the ECOGI project.
Sources: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/franceopens-deep-geothermal-power-plant-527829,
http://www.geothermaleranet.is/media/publications2015/3_Lacirignola-ADEME---ECOGI.pdf

Germany: New Professor at
the International Geothermal
Centre Bochum
The International Geothermal Centre Bochum could
strength the collaboration with the Leibniz Institute forJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Applied Geophysics (LIAG). The Faculty of Civil
Engineering at the Bochum University awarded an
Honorary Professorship to Dr. Inga Moeck for the
research field “Exploration and Geology from
Geothermal Reservoirs”. She is the Director of the
LIAG’s section for Geothermic and Information
Systems. The focus of her research is thecharacterization and exploration of geothermal
reservoirs and the influence of geological fault zones on
the expression of geothermal reservoirs.
Dr. Moeck and the International Geothermal Centre
Bochum look forward to the new collaboration and forthe infrastructure and competence opportunities. The
new collaboration will combine research efforts on
application-oriented topics at a national andinternational level. The honorary professorship wascelebrated at the International Geothermal Centre in
Bochum in early June.

Rolf Bracke, Director of the International
Geothermal Centre Bochum (left), Prof. Dr. Jürgen
Bock, President of the Bochum University ofApplied Sciences, and Dr. Inga Moeck. Photo by
Bochum University of Applied Sciences.
Source: Press release.

Hungary: First Geothermal
CHP to Be Developed in Tura
The Turawell geothermal project is located in the city ofTura, about 50 km from Budapest; it will be the firstgeothermal combined heat and power plant (CPH) in
the country. Geothermal fluids will be used for power
production and then for heating of greenhouses andbuildings in the power plant area. Then, the fluids will
be injected back into the geothermal reservoir, which
results in sustainable pollution-free heat and power
production.
www.geothermal-energy.org

28
In early May, KS Orka Renewables Pte Ltd of Singapore
announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire
51% of Turawell Kft. (Turawell) from the Hungarianowner and project developer Miszori László. It was also
unveiled that the firm had contracted the Icelandic
engineering group Mannvit for the project’s completeengineering services.
Eirikur Bragason, KS ORKA’s CEO, said, “KS Orka
aims to be the leading global developer and operator ofgeothermal projects. KS Orka has prioritizedinvestments in Asia and Europe and is targetingdevelopment of 500 MW of power generation capacity
over the next five years. The Turawell Project is an
important first step in Hungary towards achieving thisgoal and the first phase 3 MW is planned to be
operational within a year.”
KS Orka is a joint venture between Hugar Orka ehf, an
Icelandic company and Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor
Co., Ltd (Kaishan). It combines Hugar Orka’s
geothermal and project development expertise with
Kaishan’s power plant technology and manufacturingexpertise to form a vertically integrated geothermal andwaste energy company.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/ks-orkaacquires-majority-in-hungarian-geothermal-heat-andpowerproject/?utm_source=ThinkGeoEnergy+List&utm_ca
mpaign=184e621ec9TGE_Newsletter_RSS1_12_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_657e42f767-184e621ec9-415210497

Iceland: Sulfur-free CO2, Deep
Drilling Contract, Cornell-GRP
Agreement & Financing ofTheistareykir
New Catalyst Produces Sulfur-free CO2 from
Geothermal Facility - Icelandic geothermal powercompany HS Orka hf has signed a contract with Danish
Haldor Topsoe for a plant to transform excess CO2 into
a commercial product. The plant is the first to use
Topsoe’s new selective oxidation catalyst SMC™ toremove sulfur from the CO2 contained in geothermal
fluids. The presence of sulfur (i.e., H2S) prevents theindustrial use of the CO2, and also can cause unpleasantodor. The new process removes sulfur from the off-gas,
eliminates smell, and produces commercial-grade CO2,
which is an attractive commercial opportunity for many
geothermal power plants around the world.
“It is our aim and responsibility to fully utilize theenvironmental and commercial possibilities from thegeothermal sources we manage. The agreement with
Topsoe should allow us, as we have done with otherstreams of resources, to exploit the CO2 sources to its
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

29

full extent. As an added benefit, the CO2 will be madeavailable in the local market,” says Kristín Vala
Matthíasdóttir, VP Resource Park, HS Orka hf.
The new SMCTM catalyst will be at the core of a new
demonstration plant that will be placed next to HS
Orka’s existing geothermal power plant at Svartsengi,
Iceland. The plant will process 10% of the total off-gas
stream to produce commercial-grade CO2. HS Orka will
market the CO2 to local greenhouses and algae
producers, who can grow products for export and local
consumption even in the dark Icelandic winter, aided byhigh CO2 levels in the greenhouses and low cost electric
lighting and heat, all from green geothermal power.
The contract is for a lease agreement based on an
integrated solution from Topsoe that delivers
engineering and process design, equipment andcomplete services, including remote monitoring andcatalyst replacement. HS Orka will pay Topsoe per tonof CO2 that meets specific purity requirements, whilst
Topsoe will design, engineer and deliver all theequipment and services for the plant, including remotemonitoring and catalyst replacement.
The Icelandic market has potential for more projects
using Topsoe’s SMC™ catalyst, which is also relevant togeothermal plants worldwide.
Source: http://www.gasworld.com/new-plant-tocapture-co2-from-geothermal-facility/2010320.article
HS Orka and Jardboranir Signed a Contract for
Deep Drilling at the Reykjanes Geothermal Field HS Orka and Jardboranir have signed a contract for
drilling of a 5 km deep, high-temperature well at the
Reykjanes geothermal field. Jardboranir’s biggest drillingrig ‘Thor’ will be used for the project. The well is
intended to be the country’s deepest and hottest
geothermal well, with temperatures up to 500°C.
Drilling operations are scheduled to start before the endof this year.
HS Orka’s existing 2.5 km deep well at Reykjanes, Well
15, will be deepened to around 5 km. The contract
realizes the next step of the Icelandic Deep Drilling
Project (IDDP) with the purpose of demonstrating thepossibility of harnessing deep hydrothermal highenthalpy reservoirs to augment the current conventional
geothermal fields. If the chemistry of the superheatedsteam can be dealt with, the well will be used directly for
power production, potentially increasing the output of
the Reykjanes plant. If not, the well may be used as an
injector expanding the output of the existing shallower
production wells. New technology will be introduced
for the drilling, testing and harnessing the deep well, in
collaboration with domestic and international partners.
HS Orka manages the project in cooperation with
Statoil of Norway and the IDDP consortium partners.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Drilling rig ‘Thor’ (photo by Jardboranir).
The IDDP project was recently awarded an over €9million research grant from the European Union
research program “Horizon 2020”. The project is led by
HS Orka in cooperation with Isor, Landsvirkjun, Georg,
Statoil and number of European companies (see IGA
News 103, pp. 21-22).
The IDDP project has being ongoing the last 15 years.
The consortium consists of the Icelandic powercompanies HS Orka, Landsvirkjun, Orkuveita
Reykjavikur together with the National Energy
Authority and Statoil. HS Orka is the Icelandic
subsidiary of the Canadian renewable energy firm
Alterra Power Corp., which is contributing US$2.4
million to the project.
Source: https://globenewswire.com/newsrelease/2016/04/26/832792/0/en/HS-Orka-andJardboranir-sign-a-contract-on-deep-drilling-at-Icelands-Reykjanes-geothermal-field.html,
http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/sustainability/vancouvers-alterra-to-drill-5000-metre-geothermalborehole-at-iceland-plant-166868/
Cornell and GRP to Cooperate in Geothermal
Research and Education - With an aim to createclean, renewable geothermal energy projects and tocooperate in research and education, Cornell University
and Geothermal Resource Park (GRP) of Iceland havesigned a memorandum of agreement (MOA) thatmirrors the successful Icelandic model for integrating
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
energy solutions. GRP Ltd. facilitates that model within
the Iceland Geothermal Cluster to promote clean energy
globally.
In late April, the MOA was signed in Reykjavik byJefferson W. Tester, Cornell’s Croll Professor of
Sustainable Energy Systems and director of the Cornell
Energy Institute, Albert L. Albertsson, chairman of the
Iceland Geothermal Cluster, and Ríkharður Ibsen,
director of GRP. Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Iceland’s
minister of industry and commerce; U.S. Ambassador
Robert Cushman Barber witnessed the agreement.
“Sustainability is more than just a concept in Icelandic
society,” said Tester, leading author of the seminal 2006
MIT report The Future of Geothermal Energy.
“Sustainability has shaped the country and laid thegroundwork for this flourishing nation. Iceland has afiscal infrastructure that is unlike any other in the world.
This island is a global leader with over 95 % of its
electricity and heating provided by renewable hydro andgeothermal energy.”
One of the agreement’s key aims is to employ the
Icelandic experience of integrating geothermal andhydro resources as a model to transform carbon-based
U.S. energy into sustainably harnessed, green systems.
GRP will assist Cornell in designing a renewable energy
park for possible deployment on the Cornell campus in
Ithaca, NY, with an eye toward transforming thecampus into a zero carbon model for other campuses
and communities.

30
contract for the purchase of a 45MW power generating
unit, marking the start of construction for the initial
phase. “The construction on the Theistareykir site isgoing well and the power station will commence
operations in the fall of 2017”, said Horour Arnarson,
CEO of Landsvirkjun.
Source: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/icelandslandsvirkjun-completes-financing-for-90-mwgeothermal-project-530776

Turkey: Umurlu and Kizildire
III Plants, and PLUTO
Initiative
Umurlu 1 Geothermal Plant Proves Higher
Efficiency than Expected – In May, the Italian firm
Exergy announced that the Umurlu I geothermal plant,
commissioned in late 2015 in Turkey for its client
KARKEY Karadeniz Elektrik Uretimis, was producing
power with higher efficiency than expected. Tests,
validated by the third-party company Power Engineers,confirmed that the plant was running with an over
performances between 8 and 12% due to the Radial
Outflow Turbine, and is therefore producing up to 1.5
MW more than the amount guaranteed to the client.
Umurlu 1 plant. Photo by Exergy.

Tester stated: “This is a vital step for Cornell’s Climate
Action Plan and aligns with Cornell’s mission topromote sustainability by developing renewableapproaches for supplying and using clean energy…
Iceland’s renewable energy represents more than 85%
of Iceland’s primary energy supply, in contrast to ourglobal primary energy supply where about 80% isderived from fossil fuels… The whole world shouldlook to Iceland for lessons in sustainability and its effort
to fulfill our social responsibility of going green.”
Source:http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/05/cornelland-iceland-team-model-geothermal-energy
Landsvirkjun Closes Financing of Theistareykir
Project - Landsvirkjun, the National Power Companyof Iceland, said in late June it has completed thefinancing for the 90MW Theistareykir geothermal
power project after agreeing a US$50 million loan with
the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB). The state-owned
company has signed an agreement for a 16-year loan
without a guarantee of collection. In early June,
Landsvirkjun secured a €125 million (US$ 139 million)
loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for thesame purpose. The project will be carried out in two
45MW phases. In early 2015, Landsvirkjun signed a
www.geothermal-energy.org

This power increase over the guaranteed figure,combined with the increased feed-in tariff (FiT) for
locally manufactured turbine and auxiliary equipment,
provides the customer with revenues approximately
25% higher than initially anticipated. The turbine wasbuilt at the Exergy’s factory in Izmir, supplying the firstcertified made-in-Turkey turbine in the market.
Located in the geothermal area of Umurlu, near Denizli,
Umurlu I is the first of two 12MW binary plants in
Exergy’s contract with KARKEY. The second one will
be operational during the second half of this year.
Exergy has utilized an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
module equipped with two Radial Outflow Turbines(ROT) connected to a common generator and an airJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

31

cooled system sized to maximize the efficiency of theplant.
Source: http://exergyorc.com/communication/news/exergys-rot-proveshigher-efficiency-in-umurlu-1-geothermal-plant
News and Changes in the Kizildere III Geothermal
Power Plant - Toshiba Corp. said that it will supply aflash-steam turbine system and generator for the
Kizildere III Geothermal Power Plant (GEPP). Zorlu
Energy, an independent power producer and member ofTurkey’s Zorlu Energy Group, will construct the plantin Kizildere, in the Aydin province of West Anatolia,
approximately 150 km from the Aegean Sea.
According to Toshiba, Kizildere III is a 95 MW, highefficiency triple-flash, combined-cycle geothermal
power plant, one of the largest under development inEurope and the Middle East. The plant will integrate
two systems; i.e., a 72 MW flash-steam generation
system using high-pressure steam and an approximately
23 MW binary-cycle power generation system that uses
the flash turbine’s exhaust steam to vaporize a lower
boiling point working fluid to drive a turbine. Toshiba
will supply the flash-steam turbine generator system,
and Ormat Technologies the binary system. Toshibasaid that it will deliver the equipment in December; theplant is scheduled to start operations in October 2017.
The Turkish government is seeking to meet thecountry’s growing energy demand by promoting energy
capacity expansion that includes 2500 MW ofgeothermal power generation capacity by 2023. Toshibasaid it will continue to work with Zorlu Energy Groupto develop Turkey’s power sector, not only in
geothermal but also in the thermal and hydro power
generation sectors.
In further news, Zorlu disclosed that its 100% owned
subsidiary Zorlu Doğal Elektrik Üretimi AŞ (Zorlu
Doğal), will include the Kizildere VI GEPP Project
within the scope of the Kizildere III GEPP Project,which is currently under construction on the same site.
Accordingly, Zorlu Doğal withdrew its pre-license
application to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority(EMRA) for the Kızıldere VI GEPP Project. Since thetwo projects will be merged, an application has been
made to EMRA to amend the generation license of the
Kizildere III GEPP Project to increase the installedcapacity from 95.2 MW to 165 MW with the addition of
a second unit with an installed capacity of 69.8 MW.
Sources:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/05/toshiba-wins-generator-contract-for-geothermalproject-in-turkey.html,
http://www.zoren.com.tr/EN/INVESTORS/haberler.
asp?year=2016&fPage=1&fId=1002
Multimillion Initiative Supports Investments in
Exploratory Drilling - The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has
presented its innovative financing scheme in support ofgeothermal energy projects at a three-day conference
IGC Turkey 2016 held in Izmir on early June. The new
US$125 million PLUTO initiative provides finance andadvice to private developers at the exploratory stages ina move to tap Turkey’s significant potential for
geothermal energy and help the country meet its
growing electricity demand.
Geothermal energy projects face high risks, particularlyin their initial stages, including high investment costs
and development risks and very limited access to project
finance once drilling has confirmed the existence of theresource. PLUTO, named after the ruler of theunderworld in classical mythology, helps minimize theserisks. It combines US$100 million from the EBRD with
US$25 million from the Clean Technology Fund, afunding window of the Climate Investment Funds. The
program is part of a global push by multilateraldevelopment banks to scale up geothermal energy
production.
Under the PLUTO initiative, EBRD aims to develop at
least five new geothermal power plants with a combined
capacity of at least 60 MW, generating more than 450
GWh of renewable electricity per year. It will increase
the amount of installed geothermal capacity in Turkey
by more than 10%, thereby contributing substantially toreach the country’s renewable energy targets.
Source: http://www.ebrd.com/news/2016/ebrdpresents-financing-scheme-for-geothermal-projects-at-

GEOTHERMICS
International Journal of Geothermal Research and its
Applications
Write to JournalsCustomerServiceEMEA@elsevier.com if
you want a suscription at a special rate for IGA
members.
Content of the latest issues:
http://www.elsevier.com/locate/geothermics
www.geothermal-energy.org

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

32

izmir-conference.html

two will be drilled later this year. Project Manager, Ben
Gibson, said that the drilling process will target known
sources of geothermal fluid, which could be as hot as200-300°C.

Oceania
Australia: Drilling for New
Geothermal Project inToowoomba
Specialist drilling company Geothermal Industries
drilled five 100 m-deep geothermal boreholes andutilized patented Swedish turbo pipe design at the futuresite of their new commercial office to establish ageothermal system, prior to start the facility’s
construction. The system’s continuous loop that is filledwith tap water uses the natural ground energy to heatand cool efficiently commercial spaces.
The boreholes are drilled with a new drill rig and drilling
methods from Sweden, designed in part by Geothermal
Industries, made installing the geothermal system more
affordable. Once the boreholes are completed and theturbo pipe design is installed, a custom-made cement
grouting unit seals the holes, allowing contact from theearth to the turbo pipe design.
After the construction of the building is finished,interested parties will be able to observe the system
working through a range of temperature and pressure
sensors, and energy draw graphs on a screen in thereception area.
The geothermal system has been designed by Australia’s
leading supplier and proponent of the technology
GeoExchange Australia. Geothermal Industries has
partnered with GeoExchange Australia to deliver a new
dimension to drilling processes.
Geothermal Industries managing director Nigel de Vethwas excited to bring the technology to the region. He
commented, “Using this new drilling technology tocreate a geothermal system allows a building to obtain
all of its hot water, under floor slab heating, air heating
and cooling from natural ground energy sources. This
new system allows us to decrease electricity
consumption by 70% in the winter and 50% in thesummer.”Sources: GEA Weekly, No. 16, 2016,
http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/australian-firsttoowoomba-company-showcases-new-d/2996062/

New Zealand: Drilling Starts
at Te Ahi O Maui Geothermal
Project
Drilling is underway on the first of three wells for the
Te Ahi O Maui geothermal power project near
Kawerau. Following completion of this well, the otherwww.geothermal-energy.org

Eastland Group's board of directors visited the Te
Ahi O Maui drilling site.
The 20MW Te Ahi O Maui geothermal project islocated 2.3 km north-east of the Kawerau township inthe eastern Bay of Plenty, in the Whakatāne District, on
land owned by the A8D Ahu Whenua Maori Trust. The
Trust is working in partnership with the Eastland Groupto bring the project to fruition. The project team isworking with internationally recognized drilling
specialists including the New Zealand owned andoperated rig contractor, MB Century; ancillary service
provider, Halliburton; and supervising engineers, Jacobs(formerly SKM).
On the other hand, Ormat Technologies, Inc.
announced that one of its subsidiaries has signed a
US$36 million Supply, Engineering, Procurement andConstruction, (EPC) contracts, with Eastland Group forthe project; construction is expected to be completed in
2018. Under the Supply & EPC contracts, Ormat will
provide its air-cooled Ormat Energy Converter.
Eastland
Generationowns
theGeothermal
Developments Limited (GDL) plant at Kawerau, which
was built by Ormat in 2008.
Sources: http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/5/253947,
http://business.scoop.co.nz/2016/04/21/excitementbrewing-for-geothermal-project/,
http://www.ormat.com/news/latest-items/ormattechnologies-secures-36-million-supply-epc-contractsgeothermal-power-plantJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

33

Other

- Low susceptibility to fouling and/or corrosion;

Technology: SPX Heat
Transfer LLC Recognized for
Outstanding License
Technology- Minimal degradation of heat transfer by noncondensable gases;

During its annual Innovation and Technology Transfer
Awards ceremony in early May, the US Department ofEnergy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) recognized researchers and staff for
169 new innovations. One of them was the advanced
direct contact condenser (ADCC) technology,
developed by the firm SPX Heat Transfer LLC. After
entering into a collaborative research and development
agreement (CRADA) with NREL in 1998 to improvegeothermal power plant condenser technologies, SPX
Heat Transfer has successfully commercialized the
ADCC technology for geothermal and thermoelectric
applications. This technology has been deployed in the
45MW geothermal power plant in Germencik, Turkey;
the 38MW geothermal plant in San Jacinto, Nicaragua,
and four 70MW steam turbines in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

- Low liquid side inlet pressure and low vapor side
pressure drop;- Prediction of absorption of non-condensable gases;- Lower cooling water usage, minimizing cooling water
circuit first costs and power consumption or lower
condenser pressure, increasing power generation;- Lower exiting vapor temperature and lower vapor side
pressure drop, minimizing gas removal system first costs
and steam consumption for ejectors and/or electricalconsumption for vacuum pumps, typically 8-15%
parasitic power savings.
Sources:
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2016/26682,
http://spxheattransfer.com/products/detail/advanceddirect-contact-condensers

Technology: MiniGeo, Off-Grid
Small-scale Geothermal
Power Plants
The Dutch firm IF Technologies has developed a smallscale geothermal power plant specifically for remotecommunities, the MiniGeo system. The goal is toprovide an alternative to diesel generators that are
expensive, as well as polluters.
MiniGeo is a small, modular geothermal power plant thesize of a shipping container. Besides power, the systemproduces heat for all kinds of local applications. Units
are being designed to generate between 100kW and
1MW of electricity. Exactly how much power can beproduced from one unit depends mainly on thecharacteristics of the geothermal resource and the local
demand for electricity.

According to SPX Heat Transfer, ADCC is a licensed
technology designed for geothermal power thatcondenses steam directly from geothermal wells or
steam flashed from hot brine. It uses a turbulent film tocondense the steam. The higher thermal efficiency of
the ADCC technology has many benefits and savingfeatures like:- It can be designed for lower condenser pressure
and/or less cooling water flow to reduce the size ofmajor components;- Reduces parasitic power consumption for the gas
removal system, maximizing the net power generation;- Reduces unit height, leading to smaller buildingheights, potentially aiding with tight space requirements;
www.geothermal-energy.org

At the moment, the cost of power from a MiniGeo
cannot compete with grid-scale electricity production,
but it can in an off-grid scenario. IF estimates thecurrent cost of electricity from a MiniGeo system torange between US$0.10 - $0.20/kWh, depending on thegeothermal resource and the size of the installation. The
cost of power from off-grid PV-battery systems is atleast US$0.30/kWh and diesel generated power costs
even more at over US$0.50/kWh. The most importantcondition is that the geothermal gradient at the location
allows for relatively high temperatures at reasonable
depths. According to preliminary calculations a gradientof 50°C/km or more will suffice in most cases.
The MiniGeo concept has been developed under thewings of the GEOCAP program, a geothermal capacity
building program between The Netherlands andJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Indonesia. Because the inspiration for this concept camefrom GEOCAP, the first pilot project will most likely
be installed in Indonesia, since this country is also
ideally suited for this type of project.
IF plans to install its first pilot project at the island of
Haruku in the Moluccas region in Eastern Indonesia.
This island has a dormant volcano in its center and iscurrently using 1.5MW of diesel generators to provide
electricity for some of its 25,000 inhabitants. The
MiniGeo system would at least reduce the need forthese generators and provide clean and stable power atlower costs. Additionally it could produce drinking
water, refrigeration, as well as providing an Internet
connection.
Before the Haruku project can be built, IF will performa feasibility evaluation consisting of geological
exploration, environmental and social impact
assessments, and preliminary engineering studies. After
that, the project can be tendered by the local
government or an independent power producer.

34
During tests on simple and multi-string casing samples
in brine environments, a 3½” tool was able to mill a
range of casing sizes including 4½”, 5½” and 7” indiameter. Rate of penetration was achieved at similar
rates to traditional section milling techniques, but
because one tool can mill various casing dimensions,tripping time is reduced. Testing also found the tool
could mill carbon steel as well as steel alloys without
significant difficulty. According to the company, theoperation generates a finer powder, compared to therock cuttings created by traditional milling. Fluid
management is integrated within the Plasmabit device,
which also has a movement and anchoring subassembly, which can also enable milling of wider
diameters.

Source: http://www.iftechnology.nl/off-grid-electricityproduction-with-minigeo

Technology: Use of Plasma to
Quicken Geothermal Drilling
Operations
In well construction, section milling is a time-consuming
operation required as part of plugging and abandonment(P&A) operations. Sometimes, the operation has to be
carried out when there is uncertainty over the annularcement in the well, which has the potential to cause
flows, cross flows, or seepage of water, gas or oil. To
avoid such risks, section milling is used to remove
casing and cement to allow placement of new isolations.
Standard milling operations currently involve removing
the wellhead and the Christmas tree, then pulling the
production tubing, before deploying a section milling
tool, often requiring a sizeable and costly rig.
The Slovakian company GA Drilling says its solution,
Plasmabit, will be able to mill out sections of tubing or
casing, without having to remove wellheads, Christmas
trees or production tubing. The tool, which could be
deployed using a light well intervention vessel, uses a
non-mechanical electrical arc rotating at up to 800
revolutions per second, to create a plasma that willfragment steel, cement, rock or other material, inside thewell. The plasma arc is created by passing electricity
through a plasma forming media, typically water, which
is heated to 3000-6000°C. Hydrodynamic and magnetic
forces are then used to either radially or axially direct theplasma arc, for either milling or drilling operations,
respectively. The impact and speed of disintegration iscomputer controlled.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Assembly of a plasma testing prototype. Photos by
GA Drilling.
GA Drilling is looking at two different ways to lower
the tool into the borehole, either using coiled tubing ora hybrid cable, which could perform under downhole
conditions. The hybrid cable would contain a fluid line
and electrical and fiber optic elements for power anddata transmission. At longer term, the company
anticipates the technology will be a solution forgeothermal well drilling.
GA Drilling intends to try out the technology onshore
before running offshore field tests in early 2018, with
offshore operational deployment planned for 2019.
Source:http://www.oedigital.com/technology/item/12622plasma-power

Technology: MIT’s Center
Proposes Microwave
Technology to Tap Geothermal
EnergyJuly-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

35

Paul Woskov, a senior research engineer at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Plasma
Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), is using a gyrotron, a
specialized radio-frequency (RF) wave generator
developed for fusion research, to explore how
millimeter RF waves can open holes through hard rockby melting or vaporizing it. Drilling into hard rock is adifficult and expensive process, and today’s mechanicaldrilling technology has limitations. Woskov believes thatpowerful millimeter-wave sources could increase deep
hard rock penetration rates by more than ten times atlower cost over current mechanical drilling systems,
while providing other practical benefits.

of microwaves could be used to break apart rocks formining, or excavate rock to create tunnels and canals. It
could also be used for fracking in place of pressurizedwater, which is controversial due to limited water supply
and resulting water contamination.

Current rotary technology is a mechanical grinding
process that is limited by rock hardness, high pressuresand temperatures. Specially designed “drilling mud,”pumped through the hollow drill pipe interior, is used toenable deep drilling and to remove the excess cuttings,
returning them to the surface via the annular space
between the drill pipe and borehole wall. The pressureof the mud also keeps the hole from collapsing, sealing,and strengthening the hole in the process. But there is alimit to the pressures such a borehole can withstand,and typically holes cannot be drilled beyond 30,000 ft (9km) depths.

In early June, the U.S. Energy Information Agency(EIA) published construction costs for new utility-scale
electric power plants installed in the United States in2013 that used several technologies. The agency
indicated that “industry reports and other EIA
publications have included various estimates ofelectricity generation technology capital costs, but this is
the first time EIA has collected and reported actual
construction costs, which include capital and financing
costs, for all new generators. Government grants, tax
benefits, or other incentives were excluded from thesecosts. Because the data are business-sensitive andprotected, the analysis presents averaged costs for selectgroupings and excludes certain generation technologies
to avoid disclosure of individual company data. The
reported costs reflect a snapshot of market prices forgeneration technologies at the time the projects weredeveloped and built.”

With the proposed Woskov’s gyrotron technology istheoretically possible drill beyond that limit; i.e., up to
10 km depths. In the gyrotron, high-temperature physics
will replace the mechanical functions of lowtemperature mud, allowing drillers to extract rockmatter through vaporization or displace the melt
through pressurization. Similarly, the high-temperaturemelted rock will seal the walls of the borehole, and thehigh pressure from the increased temperature will
prevent collapse. In principle, because an increase intemperature in a confined volume will always result in
an increase in pressure over local pressure, drillers could
maintain the stability of a borehole to greater depths
than is possible with drilling muds.
Woskow is planning to move his base of operation fromthe PSFC to the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in
Kirkland, New Mexico, in order to take advantage of a
microwave source that would allow him to perform
experiments at a power level a factor of 10 higher thanis currently possible in the laboratory at MIT.

Source: http://news.mit.edu/2016/paul-woskovexplores-new-path-through-earth-crust-0412

Costs: Actual Construction
Costs Published by the US’
EIA

The following table presents the results obtained by
IEA, for power plants installed in 2013 only in the
United States. As indicated before, they are actual
construction costs including capital and finance:

Technology
Solar PV
Biomass
Geothermal
Hydro
Wind
Natural gas
Petroleum liquids

Average cost (US$/kW)
3705
3495
2851
2294
1895
965
765

Support for this project originally came from the MIT
Energy Initiative (MITEI). Although Woskov continues
to pursue ways his technology can advance geothermalenergy research, his current support is from the U.S.
DOE’s Office of Nuclear Science, through Impact
Technologies LLC, which funds him to explore deep
borehole storage of radioactive and nuclear wastes.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form
EIA-860, Electric Generator Construction Costs

Woskov foresees a number of other uses for the
microwave technology. The high-temperature pressures

EIA stresses that “Construction costs alone do not tell
the full story of the relative economics of eachwww.geothermal-energy.org

Note: Average costs are weighted by nameplate
capacity. Solar photovoltaic (PV) data are based onreported alternating current (AC) capacity and do notinclude distributed generation capacity.

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
electricity generation technology. For fuel-consuming
electricity generation technologies, fuel costs often makeup a substantial portion of the plant’s total costs. For
nonfuel-consuming technologies such as wind and solar
plants (and geothermal, we add), the initial construction
cost constitutes most of the plant’s total costs. In
addition, federal, state, and local programs may provide
incentives to lower the cost of certain technologies.
Finally, different types of plants often run at different
utilization rates, which affects the relative economics ofgeneration technologies…”
Source:http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=2653
2

Costs: GETEM Tool Updated
The Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has uploaded anearlier version of the Geothermal Electricity
Technology Evaluation Model (GETEM) provided by
the Idaho National Laboratory. GETEM is an Excelbased tool used to estimate the Levelized Cost of
Energy for definable geothermal scenarios.
Electrical power generation is the sole geothermal use
considered by GETEM and does not provide
assessment capabilities for geothermal direct-use orgeothermal heat pumps. The model evaluates either aHydrothermal or an Enhanced Geothermal System(EGS) resource type, and then either a flash-steam or
air-cooled binary power plant based on specific resource
parameters.
GETEM aids GTO in understanding the performanceand the cost of the technologies it is seeking to improve.
It is a detailed model of the estimated performance andcosts of geothermal power systems currently available in
the U.S. GETEM can be used to analyze and evaluate
the state of existing technologies and estimate the costof certain technologies five to 20
years in the future, given the
direction of potential RD&D
projects. The model is intended
to help GTO determine which
proposed RD&D programs andprojects might offer the mostefficient improvement whenbased on taxpayer funding.

36

o
o
o

o
o

cooled binary power plants
A schedule of the main project activities withgraphical representation showing the timeline
for incurring pre-operational capital costs
A ‘re-finance’ option for expenses incurred at
the time of the power purchase agreement
The model defaults to using failed full-size
production wells as injectors wells to
supplement the evaluation of Hydrothermal
resources
The model allows injection, production, or bothwell types for stimulation
A drilling success rate and a stimulation successrate are used to determine the proportion of‘successful’ wells drilled.

The updated GETEM tool is available for download byvisiting:
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/getem/Do
wnloadTools.aspx

Industry: Most Geothermal
Plants Installed in 2015 Wereof Binary Type, According to
GEA
Of the approximately 313 MW of new geothermal
capacity that came online last year, most of it was fromsmall binary/Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) projects.
Yet the dominance of new binary/ORC installations in2015 is not indicative of how the geothermal market willgrow in the future, according to a report from the
Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) (2016 Annual
US & Global Geothermal Power Production Report).
Flash technologies account for about 58% of global
geothermal production, dry steam about 25%, andbinary/ORC 16%, the report said (see attached figure).
Flash and dry steam technologies are suited to hightemperature resources, while binary/ORC can produce

Recent modifications include:o

The updated design
centers on inputs
variables related to both
Hydrothermal and EGS
resources using either
flash-steam or air-www.geothermal-energy.org

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
power from lower temperature resources.
Benjamin Matek, the report’s author, explained that
“The way geothermal gets developed is that higher
temperature resources are developed first, then lower
temperatures are developed second. In the U.S., we’redeveloping a lot of binary now because we built out our
high-temperature resources — except, for example, in
the Salton Sea.” Some other countries, such as
Indonesia, the Philippines and Kenya, for example, arestill building out high-temperature fields with flash/dry
steam systems, and later may start to build in lower
temperature fields with binary/ORC systems, he said.
He added that some countries only have lowtemperature resources, and therefore are only using withbinary/ORC technology.
Providers of high-temperature turbine technologies
include Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Fuji, the report said. In
addition, Ormat Technologies currently covers most of
the lower temperature turbine installations, but otherproviders, such as Electratherm, Exergy and Turboden,
have entered the market.
The GEA’s report found that the global geothermalmarket currently is at 13.3 GW of operating capacity in
24 countries, and planned capacity under development
is 12.5 GW in 82 countries. In addition, the geothermalmarket is expected to reach 18.4 GW and 32 GW by
2021 and the early 2030s, respectively. According to
GEA’s Matek, that growth has been estimated bymeasuring increased support for geothermal at the
government level around the world.
Source:http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/05/market-insight-the-status-of-commercial-andprogressive-geothermal-technologies.html

37
a minority interest —with a capacity to generate 647
MW.
The CEO of the Filipino group Aboitiz Power,
Erramon Aboitiz, said that his company would look
into the terms of the sale once they are released, while
the COO, Antonio Moraza, said the group would likely
bid on its own for the Philippine assets, but it would
seek a partner for the Indonesian projects. Chevron has
a 40% stake in Philippine Geothermal Production,
which supplies geothermal steam to the 692 MW TiwiMakban power plants in southern Luzon, which areboth owned by Aboitiz Power.
Chevron, the largest U.S. oil producer after Exxon
Mobil Corp., has slashed headcount and canceled
drilling projects to slow the exodus of cash as oil prices
in the world energy markets spiral downward. The
company would also seek buyers for its stake in an
Indonesian oil and natural gas field and for a 75% stakein its South African unit. Chevron, based in San Ramón,
California, joins ConocoPhillips and Apache Corp. inselling assets as oil prices hover near the lowest level inmore than a decade. Brent, the global benchmark,dropped 35% in 2015 for a third annual loss.
Citigroup Inc., which is advising Chevron on thegeothermal asset sale, called for indicative bids at theend of May. In mid-May the list of potential buyers
included: Aboitiz Power Corp. and Energy
Development Corp. (EDC), Philippines; Banpu Power,
Thailand; China Investment Corp. (Sovereign Fundfrom China); Engie (formerly GDF Suez), France;
Malakoff Corp., Malaysia; Marubeni and Mitsubishi
Corp, Japan; Ormat Technologies Inc., U.S.; andPertamina and PT Medco Power Indonesia.
Sources: Excerpt from ©2016 Bloomberg News, andIndustry: Companies
Interested in Purchasing
Chevron’s Asian Geothermal
AssetsSovereign fund China Investment Corp., Malakoff
Corp. and Ormat Technologies Inc. are among thecompanies weighing bids for Chevron Corp.’s Asian
geothermal assets, which could fetch as much as US$3
billion. Philippine geothermal energy producers Energy
Development Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp. and Japanesetrading house Marubeni Corp. are also weighing offers
for the assets. Mitsubishi Corp. and Jakarta-based PT
Medco Power Indonesia are separately studying
potential bids, according to company officials, as well as
the Indonesian state energy company Pertamina. Two
Chevron subsidiaries now own and operate geothermal
projects in Salak and Darajat fields — two geothermal
working areas in West Java in which Pertamina also has
www.geothermal-energy.org

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/
04/ormat-said-to-consider-chevron-s-asian-geothermalassets.html,
http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/pertaminajoins-medco-power-pursuits-chevrons-geothermalassets/, http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/AboitizPower-likely-to-bid-for-Chevron-s-geothermal-assets,
http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/aboitiz-powerinterested-in-chevron-assets-in-indonesia-and-thephilippines/
July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104

Climate Change: 175
Countries Ratified the Paris
Agreement
The Paris Agreement on climate change was signed by
175 countries in New York on April 22. China
challenged fellow G20 members to formally approve theUN pact by September 2016. The strong show of
support for a deal to end the era of fossil fuels was
welcomed by an emotional UN secretary general Ban
Ki-moon, who urged countries to accelerate theirclimate plans.
France’s president Francois Hollande described thesigning as “more than a commitment”. Hollande said
that France would be a “role model”, adding that hewould reveal plans for a higher price, talking of a “path”
to €100 per ton of carbon. With the price on Europe’s
emissions trading scheme languishing at €5/ton, it will
be interesting to see whether he is pushing EU-widereform or supplemental domestic measures.
On a day full of symbolism, it was China’s call forcountries to formally approve the deal within months
that underlined Beijing’s desire to be seen as leader inthis issue. Vice premier Zhang Gaoli outlined plans fora greenhouse gas emissions peak earlier than its 2030
target, and urged other major economies to join theagreement this year.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who signed the deal
with his granddaughter perched on his lap, said that the
US administration “looks forward to joining” this year,38
likely via a presidential decree.
Secretary Kerry said that two billion Euros on top of an
existing €3 billion would be allocated towards climate
projects in developing countries, he said, while a new
financial transaction tax will raise €1 billion to fightdesertification.
Hailed as a diplomatic triumph, the 175 countries who
signed in one day makes it a record for the UN, beating
the 119 that backed the UN Law of the Sea in 1982.
Fifteen countries officially ratified the agreement,
including Barbados, Belize, Fiji, Nauru, Palestine, St
Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia. To come into force, 55
countries covering 55% of the emissions must ratify.
According to the World Resources Institute, the April
22 pledges get us up to 25 countries and 45% of theemissions. But in a year likely to set another heat record,with concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere at newhighs, few were quick to proclaim victory.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed a desire
to seal the deal “as early as possible” in a visit to
Washington in June, potentially adding 4%.
The European Commission published a draft motion
for the Council of leaders to consider. With the US andChina promising to join the pact in 2016 and India not
far behind, the pressure is on for the EU to keep up.
Climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said: “After
Paris, the EU is doing its homework. We are determined
to maintain the momentum and spirit of Paris andensure the early ratification –and the swift
implementation– of this historic agreement.
No timeline has been agreed, however. Lawyers are still
debating whether the EU can ratify before each member
state has its laws in place.
France and Hungary have completed their parliamentary
processes, and President Holland signed a law in a
ceremony at the Elysee Palace on mid-June. Others,
including Sweden, Portugal and Austria are prepared to
do the same this year.
Bulgaria, Czechia and Croatia are among those unwillingto formally endorse the deal before the bloc’s 2030
carbon target has been divided up.
The UK’s plans are currently on hold, after the triumphof the Brexit when voters decided to leave the EU inlate June. However, the Parliament is set to approve a
57% emissions reduction from 1990 levels by 2032, oneof the most ambitious targets in the world, as
commented Amber Rudd, the Britain’s climate andenergy chief.
Amid the applause, smiles and relentless positivity, somenoted the absence of nearly 20 countries from thesigning ceremony; including Saudi Arabia, Qatar andwww.geothermal-energy.org

July-September 2016

IGA News No. 104
Nicaragua. “One has to wonder why there are somecountries that did not attend the meeting or did not signyet,” said UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, who
leaved her post in July and is expected to formallyannounce her candidacy for UN Secretary General.
Sources:
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/04/22/unrecord-as-175-countries-sign-climate-deal-but-hardgraft-remains/,
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/06/10/eugears-up-to-approve-paris-climate-agreement/,
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/06/30/ukcarbon-target-soothes-investor-nerves-amid-brexitconfusion/

Climate Change: AnotherMonth, another Round of
Broken Climate Records
Data from NASA suggests May’s temperatures were thehottest for that month globally and made it the warmest
northern hemisphere spring on record.
“The state of the climate so far this year gives us muchcause for alarm,” said David Carlson, head of the World
Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) climate research
program.

“Exceptionally high temperatures. Ice melt rates inMarch and May that we don’t normally see until July.
Once-in-a-generation rainfall events. The super El Niño
is only partly to blame. Abnormal is the new normal.”
The news comes a day after scientists at the UK Met
Office published research indicating global levels ofcarbon dioxide have passed the 400 parts per million
milestone for good.
“The strong El Niño –which has now dissipated–fuelled the high temperatures witnessed so far in 2016.
“But the underlying cause of global warming remains
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to humanactivities.”
Source:http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/06/14/nasa-world-just-baked-in-hottest-may-on-record/www.geothermal-energy.org

39

IGA News
IGA News is published quarterly by the International
Geothermal Association. The function of IGA Newsis to disseminate timely information aboutgeothermal activities throughout the world. To thisend, a group of correspondents has agreed to supply
news for each issue. The core of this group consistsof the IGA Information Committee:
Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, Mexico (Chairman)
Rolf Bracke, Germany
Paul Brophy, USA
Varun Chandrasekharam, India
Surya Darma, Indonesia
Lúdvík S. Georgsson, Iceland
José Luis Henríquez, El Salvador
Susan F. Hodgson, USA
Eduardo Iglesias, Mexico
Marcelo J. Lippmann, USA
Alfredo Mañón-Mercado, Mexico
Fernando (Ronnie) Peñarroyo, Philippines
Paul Quinlivan, New ZealandAlexander Richter, Iceland
Horst Rueter, Germany
Benedikt Steingrímsson, Iceland
Koichi Tagomori, Japan
Shigeto Yamada, JapanThe members of this group submit geothermal news
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E-mail: iga@hs-bochum.de
This issue of IGA News was edited by Luis C.A.
Gutiérrez-Negrín. Marcelo J. Lippmann & Susan
Hodgson proofread the articles. Distributed byMarietta Sander for the IGA Secretariat. Design
layout by François Vuataz.
July-September 2016

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July-September 2016