IGA NEWS
Newsletter of the International Geothermal Association
Quarterly No. 111

IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the Executive
Director
Greetings to all members of IGA and those that arereading this newsletter. We hope the first Quarter of2018 has been a good one for all of you. For us at the
IGA it has been an exciting first three months, withloads of activities and events we have been to. Let us
start by sharing with you some good news regarding ourteam in Bochum. Karolina Andersson has taken
maternity leave as she is expecting her first mid-May.
We want to thank Karolina for three years ofoutstanding support to the IGA, and wish her all thebest for her upcoming journey into parenting and caring
for something else than the IGA! Karolina, thank you
and you will be missed!
Highlights of the past few months are the IRENA
Assembly in Abu Dhabi where Alex Richter gave aplenary speech at the meeting of the Global Geothermal
Alliance. We also had the pleasure to organize jointlywith the IEA–Geothermal Technical Programme theAsia Symposium prior to the GeoTherm conference in
Offenburg, Germany. We had 12 speakers from 10
Asian countries presenting on the opportunities andhighlights of geothermal energy. The symposium
created a solid networking base and led to some fruitful
discussions how both the IEA and IGA can help
accelerate geothermal development, especially incountries at the beginning of the geothermal learning
curve.
At the ITB Workshop in Bandung, we kicked off our
first joint Worldbank / IRENA / IGA workshop on
the application of the UNFC Code on Geothermal
Resources & Reserves assessment. The workshop wasorganized by Graeme Beardsmore, Chair of the IGA
R&R Committee and led by Prof Gioia Falcone of
Cranfield University. IGA experts chairing sessions were
Alexander Richter, Harmen Mijnlieff, Varun
Chandrasekhar, and Manfred Hochstein. The workshop
was well attended by many Indonesian geothermal
professionals. Training was received very well, now thechallenge is of course to keep the momentum anddeploy the code throughout the country. There are twomore workshops planned in 2018, although countries
are not fully confirmed yet, we are looking into East
Africa and the Caribbean Small-Island Development
www.geothermal-energy.org

1

CONTENTS
IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the Executive Director... 1
Final Contracts Signed for WGC 2020 in Reykjavik… 2
Project GEMex: Meetings of Consortia … 2
Publication on the UNFC Applied to Geothermal… 5
Thanks to Susan… 5

AFRICA
Algeria: Zucchinis from Geothermal Complex … 6
Ethiopia: To Start Expansion of Aluto Langano… 7
Kenya: GDC Pillars, Longonot, Probable Royalties… 8

AMERICAS
Canada: New Geothermal Association… 9
Chile: Tolhuaca, Phasing-out Coal Power Plants… 11
Costa Rica: Wells for Las Pailas II Are Ready... 11
Mexico Officially Joins the IEA… 12
Nicaragua: New Projects, San Jacinto Update… 12
U.S.: Acquisition, Appointment, Power Plants… 13

ASIA / PACIFIC RIM
IRENA’s RE Market Report for SE Asia…15
China: ADB Funding for District Heating… 16
Indonesia: Pertamina Plans, Sumatra’s Potential… 17Japan: Hot Springs to Share the Steam… 18
Taiwan: First Mini Geothermal Plant Is Operating… 18
UAE: Possible High Geothermal Potential… 19

EUROPE
Deep Geothermal Implementation Plan… 19
New European Cluster: Geo-Energy Europe… 20
Renewable Energy Prospects for the EU… 21
European Geothermal Innovation Award 2018… 22
Belgium: Geothermal Heating Plant Inaugurated… 23
France: Sub-horizontal Geothermal Wells… 23
Germany: Power Plants & Direct Uses… 23
Iceland: Small Geothermal Power Plants… 25
Italy: New Plant to Be Built in Castelnuovo … 25
The Netherlands: Zwolle and Trias Westland... 26
Spain: Canary Islands to Explore Potential…27
Sweden: Study on Deep Geothermal Energy…28
Turkey: Kizildere III U-2, Small Plant & Plans… 28
UK: Coal Mines as Geothermal Sources… 30

OCEANIANew Zealand: Pilot Project & Alpine Fault Study… 31

OTHER
Financing, Climate Change, Technology, Science… 32
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
States. More to come about this very interesting topic
next time.

2
The WGC is held every five years and will now finallycome to Reykjavík. Iceland has been, for the past
decades, a strong example of how renewable energy canpower a modern economy, and the Icelandic energy
companies have played a vital role in the technologicaldevelopment of geothermal concerning power
generation, district heating, and other direct usages.

We are now heading towards our next big events in
Iceland, both the Iceland Geothermal Conference (2426 April) and of course our IGA Board meeting thatwill take place between 27 and 29 April in Reykjavik. We
have 23 Board members registered to join us in Icelandand it will be exciting to obtainsign-off on some of our strategic
initiatives we have created over the
past year. The IGA needs totransition into an independent
sustainable organization that isrenowned worldwide for its
geothermal leadership and trusted
voice. Geothermal is still relatively
invisible in the energy transition
dialogues taking place on a global
scale, however is gaining traction on
the regional and national scale. It is
up to us as a reputable organizationand our renewable partners tofacilitate upscaling from national tointernational, apply best practices
and support the growth ofgeothermal development throughactive engagement with policymakers and decision-takers. We
In the picture from left: Hörður Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun; Viðar
cannotstressenoughhowHelgason, Managing Director of the Icelandic Geothermal Cluster; Alexander
important it is to hear from ourRichter, President of IGA; Ásgeir Margeirsson, CEO of HS Orka; and Bjarni
membership about your ideas, yourBjarnason, CEO of Reykjavik Energy (OR) (Photo ThinkGeoenergy).
solutions and your contributions.
Do not hesitate to connect to us
About 3500 delegates are expected to come to Icelandand share your geothermal story with us and the global
for the Congress and have unique opportunity to see
geothermal community.
firsthand in some field trips how Iceland has become a
For now we wish you happy Easter holidays and enjoy
leader in geothermal utilization. Hopefully, the visit will
your leisure time with family and friends.
help other countries take the next step towards
implementing sustainable energy solutions based on
Kind regards,
their geothermal resources.
Dr. Marit Brommer, Executive Director, IGA –The event is a joint effort by the Icelandic geothermal
marit.brommer@hs-bochum.deindustry led by the Iceland Geothermal Cluster.

Final Contracts Signed forWorld Geothermal Congress2020 in Reykjavik, Iceland

Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/finalcontracts-signed-for-world-geothermal-congress-2020in-reykjavik-iceland/

During a ceremony in late January, the International
Geothermal Association (IGA) signed a contract withthe three leading geothermal energy companies in
Iceland: HS Orka, Landsvirkjun and Reykjavik Energy(OR). The agreement secures financial support for theWorld Geothermal Congress (WGC) in Reykjavik in
2020, which will be held in April that year in Harpa
Concert Hall and Conference Centre. The Iceland
Geothermal Cluster will host the Congress in 2020.

Project GEMex: Meetings ofthe Mexican & European
Consortia

www.geothermal-energy.org

Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, Editor, &Katrin Kieling, GFZ
The Project GEMex (www.gemex-h2020.eu) is acooperation initiative between Mexico and theApril-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

3

European Union, developed under the umbrella of the
Horizon 2020 in Europe and the Fund for Energetic
Sustainability (FSE) in Mexico. The project is composedof two consortia, one integrated by 24 European
organizations coordinated by the German ResearchCentre for Geosciences (GFZ), and the other by nine
Mexican entities leaded by the Michoacán University(UMSNH).
The project has the goal to bring together the extended
Mexican know-how of discovering, developing, andexploiting geothermal energy systems with a variety ofEuropean expertise from similar geothermal energy
systems in Italy, Iceland, and other places. The focus is
the development of the Enhanced Geothermal Systems(EGS) technology, and the search of new approaches tomake use of super-hot geothermal systems (SHGS) (seeIGA News 107, p. 5).

activities planned for the second stage of the tasks
included in the seven technical Work Packages (WP);
and ii) To present, discuss and solve the main
managerial issues experienced in the first two stages ofthe project.
The meeting was officially inaugurated by the scientificresearch coordinator of the UMSNH, Dr. Ireri Suazo,
on behalf of the Rector, Dr. Medardo Serna-González,and the Technical Leader of the project, Dr. Aída
López-Hernández. Later on, the Rector himself
welcomed and greeted the participants in a short
ceremony.
Aída López, accompanied by the administrative leaderof the UMSNH, Eugenia Macías-Guzmán, welcomed
the participants and explained the objectives andexpected outcomes of the meeting.
During the first part of the meeting, representatives of
the FSE presented their view of the issues they have Meeting of the Mexican Consortium
observed in the development of the first two stages of(Morelia, Mexico, 8-9 February)
the project, since February 2017 to February 2018.
The project’s Mexican consortium is composed of three
These problems were mainly related with the flow of the
distinct units of the National University (UNAM): theeconomic resources between the FSE and the UMSNH,
Geophysical Institute headquartered in Mexico City, theby one side, and the UMNSH and the other institutions,Geosciences Center of Juriquilla located in Querétaro,
by the other side. That situation leaded to theand the National School of High Studies, Morelia
complication and delay in the flow of resources, with
campus. Other partners are the scientific research andthe consequent slowing in the technical activities. The
high education center of Ensenada (CICESE), theFSE urged to improve and ease the interrelations among
National Institute for Electricity and Clean Energy
the administrative responsible of the consortium(INEEL), headquartered in Cuernavaca, two private
members, but also among the technical andcompanies (Geominco, based in Querétaro, and JL
administrative responsible of all the institutions
Energía, based in Morelia), the Comisión Federal departicipant. Also during this first part, the audit
Electricidad (CFE) and the UMSNH.
company hired by the FSE to review and approve the
The second technical meeting and the firstexpenses of the project, presented the criteria used to doadministrative meeting of the Mexican consortium wasthat. Since all these resources are of federal provenance,
held in Morelia City on 8-9 February 2017, with twothey are subject to complex and sometimes redundant
main objectives: i) To present the current state of therequirements.
Then, the technicalandadministrative
sessions started in adifferent,
nearbyvenue,
intwo
separate rooms. The
technical
sessions
were
on
the
following tasks:- WP 3.1, 3.2.
Regional models andcharacterization of
volcanologicalsystems- WP 3.3.
Geohydrologicalmodel- WP 4.1. Definition
Meeting of the Executive Board of the Mexican consortium in Morelia. (Photo: A. López.)of petrological,
www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

4hydrothermal alteration, micro-thermometric, stableoccurred in the first and second stages, with special
isotopic, and geo-chronometric properties ofemphasis in the flow and checking of the economic
basamental outcrops in surrounding areas of Los
resources. In every case it was prepared a minute of
Humeros and Acoculco
agreements outlining the best ways to resolve the issues
and prevent their occurrence in the following stages.
- WP 4.2. Relationships between fracturing and flow of
fluids in active systems
The event finished with an informal meeting of the
GEMex board of the Mexican consortium, with
- WP 4.3. Origin and paths of fluids
participation of many of the technical participants, not- WP 4.4. Magmatic evolution and heat source of the
only the formal members.
Acoculco Caldera: comparing the pre- and post-caldera
The general consensus was the meeting was fruitful,
volcanism
particularly in the administrative area where it is- WP 4.5. Characterization of litho-facies in Los
expected a better and more efficient operation of the
Humeros
project. So be it.
- WP 4.6. Characterization of superficial discharges of Meeting of the European Consortium (12-13
the geothermal system and its relation with the volcanic
March, Bari, Italy)system- WP 4.8. Mineralogical characterization of the
From 12-13 March 2018 over 80 scientists from ten
Acoculco geothermal system
European countries and Mexico met for the second
GEMex interim meeting in Bari, Italy. Scientists- WP 5.1. Electrical methods
reported the first project results, discussed the data
- WP 5.2. Seismiccollected so far and planned the integration of different- WP 5.3a. Heat flow
datasets.
- WP 5.3b. Gravimetry and magnetometry
The meeting was organized by the Bari University- WP 5.4. Inversion methods(UNIBA), particularly by Domenico Liotta, responsible- WP 6.1. Rocks, fractures, and properties of reservoirof the GEMex’s Scientific Package 1, and his team. The
fluidshalf of the first day (March 12) was a plenary session
composed of a welcome message from the host, news
- WP 6.2a. Petrology of rocks of the Los Humerosfrom the coordinators from EU (David Bruhn & Katrin
reservoir
Kieling) and Mexico (Aída López-Hernández), and two- WP 6.2b. Characterization of the Acoculco reservoir
updated overview presentations on Los Humeros, by- WP 6.3. Approaching EGS models
Egbert Jolie, and on Acoculco by Domenico Liotta.
- WP 6.4. Approaching SHGS models
After lunch, there were three simultaneous sessions by- WP 7.1. Integrated model of the EGS reservoirgroups of the technical Work Packages, which- WP 7.2. Design of operation of the stimulation test
continued during the morning of the next day (March
13). During the final plenary session, the technical- WP 8.1. Prediction of the SHGH properties in Los
leaders of each WP presented the main conclusions andHumeros- WP 8.2. Materials for
installation of SHGS- WP 9. Assessment ofenvironmental, social andeconomic impacts of
EGS and SHGS
In
parallel,eachadministrative responsibleof every institution was
met
with
the
administrative responsibleof the UMSNH and therepresentatives of the
FSE, as well as thetechnical leader of thecorresponding task or
WP, to review in detailTechnical presentations in Bari (Photo: A. López-Hernández).
thespecificissueswww.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
next steps.
The Executive Board of the European consortium helda meeting at the evening of the first day, before thewelcome dinner in a picturesque place in downtown
Bari.
In the breakout sessions, first results were presented by
the geologists collaborating in the project: Preliminary
3D-geological models of the two geothermal sites Los
Humeros and Acoculco (Puebla), are available to the
GEMex consortium. The researchers included theavailable geological knowledge up to now building on
previous efforts within the Mexican CeMIE-Geo
project. A regional volcanological model forms the basis
for a conceptual model. The next step is to include thenew data which is collected during the project.

5
Resource Classification, Energy Series No. 51. Thispublication includes a set of 14 case studies form several
countries, presented to illustrate the application of thegeothermal energy specifications for the uniform use of
UNFC in different contexts. These examples provide a
range of scenarios in the classification of geothermal
resources in a manner consistent with the classificationof other energy resources.

During the last year the database at Los Humeros wasincreased tremendously in all fields of exploration: 43
seismic stations are deployed in a passive seismic
network, 50 magnetotelluric (MT) and 75 transitoryelectromagnetic (TEM) soundings have been taken, 55
fluid samples for geochemistry, over 70 samples fromcores of 15 wells, three large samples (400 kg) for
hydraulic fracturing tests, 46 samples for age dating,more than 2500 CO2-flux measurements, 330 soil gas
samples, surveys on UAV thermal imagery,
hyperspectral scanning, structural geology fieldwork andmany, many more are the prove for a great collaboration
between Mexican and European scientists. Fieldwork
shall be concluded until the end of this year with greater
focus on the site which is investigated for an EGS
concept, Acoculco.
The big challenge of the project will be to takeadvantage of joint interpretation of multiple datasetsand to integrate this huge dataset to a joint model.
During the meeting in Bari, first steps towards data
integration were taken, as well as the transfer from thegeological to the reservoir model, which will allow for
simulations of the reservoir behavior.
First results of the project were presented to the generalpublic during a GEMex Informative Event on March 27
in Pisa, Italy (please find more information at this link)
one day prior to the DESCRAMBLE final conference(info here).

New Publication on the UNFC
Applied to Geothermal Case
StudiesIn the UNECE Weekly 739, published on 5-9 February
2018, it was announced the publication of Application of
the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources(UNFC) to Geothermal Energy Resources - Selected case studies,that was prepared by the UNECE Expert Group on
www.geothermal-energy.org

In the Foreword, Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretaryof the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) writes: “The United Nations
Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) was
developed under the auspices of the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe by a dedicatedcommunity of experts drawn from a range of fields, butwith the common goal to develop an internationallyapplicable scheme for the classification, reporting andmanagement of energy and mineral resources. Thoughinitially developed for the mineral and petroleum
sectors, UNFC has recently expanded its scope toinclude renewable energy. Growing awareness andinterest in renewable energy resources, including
geothermal resources, has highlighted a need tostandardize the way in which renewable energy potential
is classified and reported.
“To facilitate improved global communication in thegeothermal sector, the ECE Expert Group on Resource
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Classification, under the framework of a Memorandumof Understanding between the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe and theInternational Geothermal Association (IGA), developed
specifications for applying UNFC to geothermal energy
resources. The specifications were issued in September
2016.
“A set of 14 case studies from Australia, Germany,
Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Philippines and Russian Federation are presented here
to facilitate a better understanding of the specifications
and the uniform application of UNFC to geothermal
resources. These application examples illustrate theclassification of a range of different geothermal resource
scenarios in a manner consistent with other energy
resources. The approach also provides valuable
indicators to the value of UNFC as a tool to support
attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Experts in geothermal energy resources, as well as
those in other energy and mineral sectors, will find thiscollection of case studies a useful reference document intheir efforts to apply a globally applicable integrated
resource management system. I commend all those
involved in the preparation, review and verification ofthese case studies and thank, in particular, theInternational Geothermal Association for its support.”
Among the acknowledgements, it is stated that: “Thedevelopment of these case studies was undertaken by a
sub-group (Working Group) of expert volunteers led by
Gioia Falcone (Leader) with Miklos Antics, Roy Baria,
Larry Bayrante, Paolo Conti, Malcolm Grant, Robert
Hogarth, Egill Juliusson, Harmen Mijnlieff, Annamária
Nádor, Greg Ussher and Kate Young as members, andGraeme Beardsmore and Horst Rueter as observers…
The International Geothermal Association (IGA) has
actively supported this work through its IGA Resources
and Reserves Committee (Chaired by Graeme
Beardsmore). UNECE and IGA have a Memorandumof Understanding to develop specifications andguidelines for the application of UNFC to geothermalenergy.”The 14 case studies are: Ngatamariki (New Zealand),Habanero (Australia), Insheim (Germany), Rotliegend-3
and Dutch Rotliegend Play Area (The Netherlands),
Hódmezővásárhely District Heating (Hungary), Alto
Peak and Baslay-Dauin (Philippines), Canavese GeoDH
System (Italy), Vertical Ground-Coupled Heat Pump
System (Italy), and Aggregation GSHP-Potential(Germany), Pauzhetsky (Russian Federation), Krafla andKrafla-50 MW Power Expansion (Iceland).
This publication can be freely downloaded from:http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/energy/se/pdf
s/UNFC/UNFC_GEOTH/1734615_E_ECE_ENER
GY_110_WEB.pdf
www.geothermal-energy.org

6
Should you be interested in a hard copy, please send an
email (iga@lovegeothermal.org) to the IGA Team in
Bochum and we send one to you.

AFRICA
Algeria: First Batch of
Zucchinis from the Touggourt
Geothermal Complex
The first batch of Gloria zucchinis, out of thegeothermal complex of Touggourt, destined for export,
left the port of Oran on middle March towards Europe.
It is a zucchini variety different from those found on thenational market. Its color is dark green, and its size
varies between 18 and 23 cm. As far as quality isconcerned, the complex's managers claim that thisproduct, which stands out due to its ‘organic’ properties,
is very competitive on the international market.

As a matter of fact, according to Taha Derbal, General
Director of the National Office of Irrigation andDrainage (ONID), this first shipment of 20 tons will be
exported to Spain, and the United Kingdom will be its
final destination. The same official says that this is thefirst vegetable produced by the pilot mega-complex of
ONID, using geothermal energy in agricultural
production. Located in Touggourt, in the province ofOuargla, this complex was built by ONID, incooperation with the Spanish company Alcántara.
The complex has four large greenhouses for vegetable
crops, a nursery, a seed storage site, as well as a crop
treatment and storage station. The complex has 80
employees in service, including nine state engineers inhydraulics and agronomy, all trained in Spain, to takecharge of the technical aspect of the project. After all,technology is what allows the vegetables to be harvested‘organically’ in a record amount of time, without wasting
any energy.
This complex, the first of its kind in Algeria, uses theheat produced by deep drilling for agricultural
production; an optimal yield with highly added value.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
This technique makes it possible to obtain the ideal
conditions for the production of early vegetables. “Thecomplex has four multi-chapel greenhouses of 10
hectares each. Their operation will finance another 40
hectares, which will increase the number of greenhouses
to 16” Derbal said. The zucchini, the first vegetableproduced by the complex, will be followed up by otherproducts, such as industrial chili peppers, peppers andcherry tomatoes. Studies are also underway for the
production of certain fruits, such as watermelon andmelon, as to adapt to conditions more perfectly. But
priority will be given to the gardening market because,
according to Mr. Derbal, these are techniques alreadymastered by the complex,
Taha Derbal explained that geothermal energy is theenergy recovered from the boreholes to heat thegreenhouses, thanks to radiators in the form ofserpentines, uncoiled inside of them. The supply of hot
water (50 to 80°C), with a salinity between 2.5 and 3.5
g/l, comes from the Albien wells in the region. This
technique makes it possible to have the same climate
conditions throughout the year, especially during thewinter period when the nightly temperature drops are
noticeable. The complex also has a de-mineralization
block which allows for cooling and softening of the salt
water. Funded by the National Bank for Rural
Development (Badr), this complex is compiled from all
sorts of technology, with everything controlled
remotely, such as: temperature, watering, and brightness.
The conditioning of the production, from its arrival in
the fields, up until its final packaging, is also automated.
Source:http://www.hortidaily.com/article/41896/AlgeriaFirst-batch-of-zucchinis-from-the-Touggourtgeothermal-complex

Ethiopia: Expansion of Aluto
Langano to Be Started
The overdue expansion of the Aluto Langano
Geothermal Plant is going to get a fresh start following
the recently announced tender by the Ethiopian ElectricPower (EEP) to hire a contractor for the project andprocure rigs to drill the wells.
EEP is searching for a company that will provide twogeothermal drilling rigs and accessories, rig operations
and maintenance for drilling geothermal wells alongwith all the accessories, heavy machinery, trucks andvehicles.
The procurement could likely cost the EEP an
estimated US$120 million.
The International Development Association (IDA) of
the World Bank has already provided financial
assistance of about US$126 million out of the total
www.geothermal-energy.org

7

UPCOMING EVENTS
25th Annual Congress of the Mexican
Geothermal Association
18-20 April 2018, Morelia, Mich., Mexico
Iceland Geothermal Conference 201824-26 April 2018, Reykjavik, IcelandGrand Renewable Energy 201817-22 June 2018, Yokoyama, JapanGEOHEAT International Geothermal
Conference
4-7 September 2018, PetropavlovskKamchatsky, Russian Federation
GRC Annual Meeting & Expo
14-17 October 2018, Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Seventh African Rift Geothermal Conference(ARGeo-C7)
29 October – 4 November 2018, Kigali,
RwandaNote: Please check the IGA website for more
events.
project cost of US$218 million. IDA extended this
support under its Geothermal Sector Development
Project (GDSP).
Located on the Aluto volcanic complex of theEthiopian Rift valley, close to the eastern mountainbetween Lake Langano and Ziway, some 200 km
southeast of Addis Ababa, the plant is expected togenerate 75 MW from eight wells.
The initial feasibility study for the project was
conducted in 1986. Later, a 7MW plant was constructed
in 1998 as a pilot plant to test the geothermal resourcesin the area. It covers an area of about eight square
kilometers, and can generate up to 100 MW of electricenergy from the Aluto steam field, known to be one of
the high temperature prospected areas in the country.
The plant has been producing just around 1MW fromthe two small wells it has, but the EEP and the thenMinistry of Mines & Energy started an attempt to
optimize it in 2013, which had to be cancelled.
The expansion of Aluto Langano is the third largest
geothermal project in the country, after the 500MW
project in Corbetti Caldera, 250 km south of Addis
Abeba, in the Oromia regional state, and the Tulu Moyeproject, another 500 MW project in Oromia Regional
State. Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and an
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Implementation Agreement (IA) were signed for thetwo projects some months back.
Source: https://addisfortune.net/articles/aluto-langanogeothermal-expansion-comes-to-life/

8
to National Bank of Kenya chairman Mohamed Hassan,
will start drilling its first exploration steam well inLongonot next June, after five years of delays.
The firm said it would cost a minimum of US$5 million
to drill one well, the target being to drill up
to 40 wells expected to generate enoughsteam for 140 megawatts of geothermal
electricity. A steam well takes about 60
days to drill, reaching depths of up to 3.5
kilometers.
Hassan, the National bank chairman, is aco-director at the AGIL. The company got
the license for drilling in 2009, the same
year it was incorporated. It was given an
area of 132 square kilometres around Mt
Longonot for exploration and production
for 30 years.

In 2013, the company announced it would
start drilling in Longonot searching for
View of the current Aluto Langano plant (Photo from the source).
steam and build a power plant at a cost of
US$600 million. The drilling is yet to start
five
years
later.
Also in 2013, the company announced
Kenya: GDC Pillars, Imminentalso it had already secured $10 million (Sh1 billion) in
Drilling in Longonot,
equity to start the exploration and another $8.4 million(Sh865 million) was to be signed with the African Union
Geothermal Power forCommission.

Railroad & Probable Royalties

Menengai and Baringo-Silali, Are Critical Pillars for
GDC - Two geothermal projects of GDC (Geothermal
Development Company) have been identified as criticalpillars which will catapult the ambitious Big Four
Economic Agenda recently launched by the Kanyan
President Uhuru Kenyatta.
According to GDC Board of Directors, the Menengai
and Baringo-Silali geothermal projects will be key
indicators in government’s plans for the governmental
four pillars: manufacturing, affordable housing,universal healthcare and food security.
Speaking during a tour of Menengai and Baringo- Silali
projects on late January, Chairman of the GDC Boardof Directors, Gershom Otachi, accompanied by othermembers of the Board and GDC Managing Director &CEO, Johnson P. Ole Nchoe, said that the Board will
fully support the development and ensure both projects
succeed.
“Be assured of our support in these projects. We are
extremely happy with the good job. These projects are
key deliverables in the Government’s plan for the Big
Four Economic Agenda,” said Otachi.
Source:http://www.gdc.co.ke/gdc_big_four_agenda.php
Drilling to Start in Longonot in June - African
Geothermal International Limited (AGIL), a firm linked
www.geothermal-energy.org

Drilling engineers on the ground, said the firm iscurrently laying the infrastructure such as passable roads
to pave the way for the first drills in June. The firm said
it has the option of hiring out drilling rigs from either
Geothermal Development Company (GDC) or
KenGen, both state-owned agencies. In Kenya, the
GDC is mandated to drill exploration wells in search ofsteam on behalf of investors to de-risk the venture
before handing the steam wells to power producers who
pay for the steam, in return.
Sources: https://www.msn.com/enza/news/other/agil-to-drill-first-exploration-well-inlongonot/ar-BBIueWK, http://www.africageothermal.com/media/news-archive/
Geothermal Power for Electrification of Railroad Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) has
signed a Shillings 24.2bn ($US 239 million) contract
with China Electric Power Equipment and Technology
Company (CET) for the electrification of the MombasaNairobi section of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway(SGR).
The electrification project will involve the installation ofcatenary and 14 substations along the 472 km route,with power being provided by Ketraco’s 400kV
Mombasa-Nairobi Transmission Line (MNTL), which
was energized in August 2017. The line has atransmission capacity of 1500 MW, just short of current
national demand of 1700 MW.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

9

Panoramic view of Mt Longonot. Photo by AGIL.
Ketraco said the MNTL was constructed to address thechallenges of low voltages, high transmission losses andunreliable supply in Kenya’s national electricity grid. The
power for the SGR will be provided by geothermal
plants, reducing CO2 emissions from train operations to
zero.
Electrification is due to be completed within 28 months.
Source:http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/africa/kenyasgr-electrification-contract-signed.html
Proposed Royalty for Geothermal-power Producers- Fees will be levied at a rate of 1 percent to 2.5 percent
of revenue generated from the energy source within thefirst decade of a geothermal license being issued,
according to the draft Energy Bill presented tolawmakers on middle February. The levy will then climb
to between 2 percent and 5 percent, the bill states.
The bill has been revised since October 2016, when
President Uhuru Kenyatta asked lawmakers to remove aclause stipulating that Kenya Power Ltd., the monopoly
power distributor, compensate customers for losses
resulting from electricity blackouts. Outages are analmost daily occurrence in the country, including thecapital, Nairobi.
The latest draft defies Kenyatta’s order by providing forcompensation by Kenya Power if outages, poor quality
or irregular supply due to negligence results in damage
to property, financial loss, or loss of life. Kenyatta had
earlier urged quick passage of the bill.
Other proposals in the bill include:- The licensing of other electricity distributors andretailers, in what will effectively end Kenya Power’s
monopoly in the industry- Establishing a Consolidated Energy Fund to smoothvolatility in gasoline and electricity priceswww.geothermal-energy.org- Assisting counties in developing licensing andregulatory functions- Giving counties the power to develop energyconservation building codes to suit local conditions.
- Local communities around power-producing
geothermal wells will receive 5 percent of the revenue
from royalty payments under the proposed law. County
administrations are to get 20 percent on the condition
the amount doesn’t exceed twice the budget allocations
from national government, according to the bill.
“We welcome this proposal,” said Lee Kinyanjui,
governor of Nakuru county, which hosts the Olkaria
geothermal fields that produce all of Kenya’s
geothermal power. “This will be of great benefit to thecommunity and we’ll ensure it percolates to the people.”
The communities will receive their money through atrust fund managed by a board of trustees set up by thecommunity. However, the bill dampens that benefit forcommunities in geothermal steam rich regions, by giving
immense powers to the Cabinet Secretary to do awaywith the royalties at will without consultations: “The CS
may waive, suspend of reduce the royalty for any
licencee in the interest of encouraging the greatest
utilization of geothermal resources,” reads the bill.
Sources:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2018/
02/kenya-plans-royalty-for-geothermal-producers-inenergy-bill.html

AMERICAS
Canada: It Was Founded
Geothermal Canada
On February 1st, 2018, the Canadian Geothermal
Association (CGA) was reborn as the Pan Canadian
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL ENDORSED BY THE
IGA

10
Geothermal Canada is a not-for-profit organizationcommitted to advancing science and promoting
geothermal research and development in Canada.
Serving Canada’s geothermal community by stimulating
technology transfer, knowledge exchange, andinformation transmission, it seeks to promote
innovation in Canada in the field of geothermal
research. Through fostering collaborative investigationsin academia, companies, and organizations, innovationin the field of geothermal research will be supported anddisseminated beyond the research community.
The BoD is composed of Catherine Hickson as the
Executive President, Steve Grasby as Vice President,
Katie Huang as the Secretary, and Jeff Witter as theTreasurer.
Source: https://www.geothermalcanada.org/

Chile: Concession for Tolhuaca
Field & Coal Plants to Be
Phased-out
TAKE A LOOK HERE.
Society for Geothermal Research, Innovation, &Collaboration, colloquially known as Geothermal Canada.
The CGA was founded by Andrew Nevin, Tim SadlierBrown and Jack Souther. It was hatched in 1973 at theinaugural Geothermal Resources Council (GRC)
meeting in Brawley, CA and was formalized in 1974.
The Association met formally once per year in the formof small technical conferences and continued to meetthroughout the following three decades. Membershipebbed and flowed with industry ups and downs until themid-2000s. At that time the Association took a breather
and spawned two other organizations from themembership of the original society. These are CanGEA
and CanGRC. CanGEA is an industry focused lobby
group which is affiliated to the IGA. CanGRC was
founded by a group of students; the group no longer
exists.

Exploration Concession for Tolhuaca Geothermal
Field - By official decree published on February 1st,
2018, the Chilean Energy Ministry grants Transmark
Chile SpA a Geothermal Exploration Concession in thearea known as Peumayén, located in the Quilaco districtof the Biobío Region and the Curacautín district of the
La Araucania Region, southern Chile.
Within the Peumayén Concession lies the Tolhuaca
Geothermal Field, which has been widely studied since
early 2000’s, with a full-size exploration well drilled andsteam production tested to an equivalent in power of 12
MW. Transmark Chile intends to conduct additional
exploration studies and expand the current knowledgeof the area to define the extent of the reservoir and thepotential for base-load renewable power generation.
Geothermal power has great potential to help Chile inmeeting its sustainable energy ambitions. Fortunately,
there are great opportunities in Chile to increase
geothermal power production and Transmark Chile is

In 2017, a group of like-minded individuals felt the time
was ripe to resurrect the original scientifically oriented
society with a new name and renewed vigor. As
geothermal energy gains prominence in Canada, it was
felt that professionals, students, governments and otherinterested people needed a venue to discuss technicaland academic aspects of the industry. Thus on February
1st, 2018, CGA was reborn as the Pan Canadian Society
for Geothermal Research, Innovation, & Collaboration,
colloquially known as Geothermal Canada. The Society
is formulated under the Societies Act of British
Columbia #20068829.
www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

11

taking on the challenge to develop the geothermal
resources in Peumayén.
Source: http://www.transmarkrenewables.com/news/transmark-chile-published-itspeumayen-concession-tolhuaca-geothermal-fieldPhasing-out Coal Power Plants - After France,
another country has recently announced plans to starteliminating dirty fossil fuels. President Michelle Bachelet
said in early February that Chile will not build any coalplants without carbon capture and will start replacing
existing plants with cleaner sources.
Thanks to its geographical and geological context, Chilehas excellent potential for renewable energy. With 15%of the world’s volcanoes and almost 10% of the world’s
geysers, the country has vast geothermal potential.
Northern Chile also has the highest solar incidence inthe world and being a large coastal country, Chile is alsoquite windy. Yet despite all this, the energy production
is dominated by fossil fuels. Coal and oil together
generate more than half of the country’s energy, withhydro providing just over 30% in 2017. Wind, solar, andgeothermal have been relegated to secondary sources,
but that might soon change.
The energy ministry has reportedly secured anagreement with its major utilities to not build any coalplants unless they have the technology to store theemissions underground. While this is still less than ideal,
it’s definite progress. No clear end date has beenannounced for the end of coal-burning, but
environment minister Marcelo Mena has described thisstage as “the beginning of the end of coal”. Chile has
pledged to generate 70% of power from renewablesources by 2050.
Coal phase-outs have been announced in several
countries, especially in Europe. France announced it willstop burning coal by 2021, Italy by 2025,
and the Netherlands by 2030. The UK isalso shutting down its coal plants fast, andeven in the US, coal power has dropped
from over 50% in 2000 to 30% in 2016.

Las Pailas II is located in Curubandé de Liberia,
Province of Guanacaste, in the northwest of Costa Rica.
The installed capacity is 55 MW, and is scheduled tostart operations in January 2019. Currently, the ICE isbuilding the machine hall as well as more than 22
kilometers of superficial pipes for conducting thegeothermal fluids through the Spanish firm INITEC
Energía S.A., which is in charge of the EPC of the
project. The 55MW turbo-generator is being
constructed by Mitsubishi.
The average depth of the wells is 2200 meters, while thewells in the Miravalles field, recently named Alfredo
Mainieri Protti, are 1600 meters deep in average. In Las
Pailas, the ICE applied an innovative system of
directional drilling, and then built three drilling pads,
each one with four production directional wells, andanother three drilling pads, each one with three injection
directional wells. Thus, the well-field is composed of 12
production wells and 9 injection ones, all grouped inonly six drilling pads, so achieving a minimum footprint
on the terrain.
Construction of the project started in April 2013. Las
Pailas is going to be the seventh geothermal power plantin Costa Rica, with which the geothermal power in the
country will be 262 MW. The project is financed mostly
by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)
through a soft loan at 40 years, and by additional
funding by the EIB (European Investment Bank), the
IADB (Inter-American Development Bank) and theICE.
“To have available the necessary steam a year before thecommissioning of the plant is a milestone for any
project of this kind. It reflects a proper planning anddesign”, said Eddy Sánchez, ICE’s director ofgeothermal resources. He added that the ICE, “…hasSource:https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/renewable-energy-ecology/chile-start-phasecoal-02022018/

Costa Rica: Wells for
Las Pailas II Are Ready
The ICE (Instituto Costarricense deElectricidad) informed in late January it hascompleted the drilling of 21 geothermal
wells for the power plant Las Pailas II,
according to the construction program.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Scheme of the Las Pailas II power plant. Injection-well pads (PLP-11,
12 & 13) have only three injection wells each. (Credit: ICE. Taken fromthe source.)
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
the knowledge and experience need to continue
developing the geothermal resources in the country. We
can generate electricity using sustainably and efficiently
the resources, at low cost and in tune with theenvironment.”
Source:https://www.grupoice.com/wps/portal/ICE/Acercade
lGrupoICE/sala-de-prensa/comunicadosoficiales/325f8ca5-6117-46c2-a005-c3ded0496091

Mexico: The Country Officially
Joins the International Energy
Agency (IEA)
Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER) announced
that it has officially joined the International Energy
Agency (IEA), becoming the 30th member country andthe first from Latin America.
“We will take our part in setting the world’s energy
policies, receive experienced advisory in bestinternational practices, and participate in emergency
response exercises,” said Mexico’s Secretary of Energy
Joaquin Coldwell.
Mexico’s participation comes after the senate ratified theInternational Energy Program (IEP) agreement and thetreaty was subsequently deposited with the governmentof Belgium.
Back in November 2017, IEA’s member countries
unanimously approved Mexico’s measures to quickly
become the next member of the organization, which inturn can provide a major boost for the global energy
governance.
With more than 120 million inhabitants, Mexico iscurrently the 15th economy of the world, the 12th oil
producer, the 6th geothermal power producer and hashuge solar and wind resources.
With 30 member countries and seven association
countries, IEA now accounts for more than 70% of
global energy consumption, up from less than 40% in
2015, the government noted.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), based in Paris,
France, was created in 1974 in response to the 1973-74
oil crisis. It is an autonomous organization dedicated toensuring reliable, affordable and clean energy for its
member countries and beyond. The IEA’s major focus
areas are:- Energy security: promoting diversity, efficiency andflexibility within all energy sectors- Economic development: ensuring stable supply ofenergy to IEA Member Countries and promoting freemarkets to foster economic growth and eliminate energy
poverty
www.geothermal-energy.org

12- Environmental awareness: enhancing international
knowledge of options for tackling climate change- Engagement worldwide: working closely with nonMember countries to find solutions to shared energy
and environmental concerns.
In addition to their many other responsibilities, the IEA
encourages international collaboration in energy
technology through its broad range of more than 40
multilateral technology initiatives (Implementing
Agreements), ten of which are renewable energy
technologies, including IEA Geothermal.
IEA Geothermal provides a framework for international
cooperation in geothermal research and development. It
focuses on both power generation and direct-heatapplications. IEA Geothermal currently comprises 16
Members: 13 Country Members: Australia, France,
Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand,
Norway, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, United
Kingdom and the United States; the European
Commission; and two Sponsors: Ormat Technologies
and the Spanish Geothermal Technology Platform(Geoplat).
Sources: https://renewablesnow.com/news/mexicoofficially-joins-the-international-energy-agency-602251/,
http://iea-gia.org

Nicaragua: New Projects to Be
Developed & Update on the
San Jacinto Geothermal Field
Feasibility Studies to Start in Three New Areas The executive president of the Nicaraguan Electricity
Company (ENEL), Ernesto Martínez Tiffer, said on late
February that they are planning to start feasibility studiesof three power generation projects with geothermal
sources located in the Cosigüina volcano, Casita-San
Cristóbal and Mombacho volcano. Martinez Tiffer
spoke about it after participating in the commemorationof the 84th anniversary of the death of General Augusto
Calderón Sandino.
Martínez Tiffer said the expectation is that a power
plant of 35 MW be installed in each of those areas, andthen a total of 105 MW can be added in six more years
to the national interconnected system.
The investment in each of these areas amounts to
between US$35 to 40 million, he said. The InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) finances the
project in the Cosigüina volcano, and the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is supporting
the development of the program in Mombacho, added
Martínez Tiffer. The feasibility study is the formal
beginning of the projects, but the Casita-San Cristóbal
project has already started, as informed in the next note.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Source:https://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/nacionales/456510anuncian-estudios-factibilidad-tres-proyectos-gene/ (inSpanish)0EISA Presented for Casita-San Cristóbal Project In a meeting hold on late January with community
leaders of the Departamento de Chinandega, the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Cerro Colorado Power
reported that progress is being made in the Casita-San
Cristóbal Geothermal Project and that they have alreadycompleted the Environmental and Social Impact Study(EISA). The geothermal project is planned to have 35
MW of installed capacity.

13
Polaris Updates the Drilling Program in San Jacinto– The Polaris Infrastructure’s wholly-owned operating
subsidiary Polaris Energy Nicaragua, S.A. (PENSA),
which owns and operates the San Jacinto geothermal
project, informed on late January that it has madesubstantial progress with drilling efforts. The San
Jacinto geothermal field has currently an installedcapacity of 72 MW, and the highlights of drilling
program execution and preliminary testing activities are
as follows:
Production well SJ 12-4. The well was completed inearly November 2017 at a total depth of 2624 meters
after reaching a total loss of drilling fluids. After aperiod of thermal recovery, SJ 12-4 was
successfully discharged on January 16, 2018, andhas been flowing since that date (discharging to
the atmosphere). Based on testing completed todate, the estimate initial productive capacity is
between 4 and 6 MW.
Production well SJ 12-5. The well SJ 12-5 wascompleted in early January 2018 at 2416 m depth,
after a total loss of drilling fluids. Tests concluded
during and after drilling suggest that SJ 12-5 has
higher permeability and temperature than SJ 12-4.
SJ 12-5 was successfully discharged on January 25,
2018. Based on testing completed to date, theestimate productive capacity is between 8 and 12
MW.

Eruption of San Cristóbal Volcano in March 2015. (Photo credit:
http://noticieroenfoque.com/?p=7047)
The Cerro Colorado PPP is integrated by the
Nicaraguan Electricity Company (ENEL: Empresa
Nicaragüense de Electricidad) and the Canadiancompany Polaris Infrastructure Inc. They presented the
EISA of the project to the community, highlighting its
different stages, the mitigation and environmental
protection measures as well as social responsibility
programs to guarantee the inclusive development of the
inhabitants of the municipalities of Chinandega,
Chichigalpa and Posoltega.
The concession area of the Project will be 20 km2,
spread over those three municipalities. ENEL has
informed that the execution of the Project in this regionof the country will generate direct and indirect jobs, inaddition it will benefit the population, through theshared social responsibility model.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/nicaraguaadvancing-geothermal-agenda-with-35-mw-casitageothermal-project/www.geothermal-energy.org

Planned superficial infrastructure investments.
Given the substantial expansion of the San Jacinto
steamfield over the past 18 months, additional
investment has been needed to efficiently
accommodate the total mass flows (steam and hot
geothermal fluids) being generated. PENSA will
install an upgraded separator station on pad 12.

Stimulation of well SJ 4-2. The production well SJ 4-2
was connected to the San Jacinto plant in late August
2017. The well has reliably been a modest producer,
with average production in the range of 1.5 to 2 MW.
PENSA continues to explore options to improve its
production, possibly via acid stimulation. A
determination will be made later in the first quarter of2018.
Source: https://www.newswire.ca/newsreleases/polaris-infrastructure-provides-drillingprogram-update-671745343.html

U.S.: Company Acquisition,
Appointment in NREL,
Approval for Site Lease
Agreement, McGinness Hill &Wabuska Power Plants
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

14

U.S. Geothermal Acquired by Ormat – U.S.
Geothermal Inc. announced in late January that it hasentered into a definitive merger agreement under which
a wholly owned subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc.
will acquire the company in an all cash transaction. The
agreement has been unanimously approved by bothcompanies’ Boards of Directors.
The transaction is not subject to a financing condition
and is expected to close during the second quarter of
2018, subject to the approval of U.S. Geothermal
shareholders and the satisfaction of customary closing
conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals.
Certain funds advised by JCP Investment Management,
LLC, which own approximately 15.0% of theoutstanding shares of U.S. Geothermal, as well as the
directors and officers of U.S. Geothermal have enteredinto an agreement to vote in favor of the transaction.
U.S. Geothermal is a renewable energy company
focused on the development, production and sale ofelectricity from geothermal energy. The Company iscurrently operating geothermal power projects at Neal
Hot Springs, Oregon, San Emidio, Nevada and RaftRiver, Idaho for a total designed net output ofapproximately 45 MW. The Company is also developing
projects at: the Geysers, California; a second phaseproject at San Emidio, Nevada; at Crescent Valley,
Nevada; and the El Ceibillo project located near
Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Source:http://www.usgeothermal.com/releasedetail.cfm?Releas
eID=1055116

geothermal energy.

New Manager for
Geothermal Energy
in the NREL - The
U.S. Department ofEnergy’s(DOE)
National Renewable
Energy Laboratory(NREL)
recently
promoted Katherine
Young, a senior
geothermal
analystand engineer in the
lab’s Strategic Energy
Analysis Center, tolaboratory program
managerfor

In her new role, Young will work with NREL
management to establish the lab’s geothermal energy
research and development portfolio and lead
discussions with DOE’s Geothermal Technologies
Office to reduce the cost of developing geothermalenergy.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Since joining NREL in 2008, Young led the design anddevelopment of the Regulatory and Permitting
Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit, an online
resource that helps agencies, industry, and developers to
identify the regulatory steps required for renewable
power projects. She also led the development of the
Geothermal Resource Portfolio Optimization &Reporting Technique (GeoRePORT), which createdindustry standards for reporting geothermal resources.
“One of my goals is to work with energy leaders toencourage the inclusion of geothermal in theconversation when we’re talking about small- or largescale energy-efficiency and renewable solutions,” Youngsaid. “Geothermal can play a significant role in thedesign and development of energy-efficient buildings
and clean cities and is a key contributor to grid reliability
and security in areas of deployment.”
Source: https://dailyenergyinsider.com/news/10620young-lead-national-renewable-energy-laboratorygeothermal-energy-program/
250MW Geothermal Project Receives Approval for
Site Lease Agreement - The Imperial Irrigation
District’s board of directors of Imperial County,
California, voted on late February to approve a 1900acre (769 hectares) lease agreement with Controlled
Thermal Resources. It is an Australian company that issearching to build a 250MW geothermal power plant
along the southern shore of the Salton Sea lake, near thecounty of Calipatria. The facility would generate fivetimes as much electricity as any of the 11 existing
geothermal plants in the area.
The proposal would need to be approved by the
California Energy Commission (CEC). It also faces thesame obstacle that has plagued all geothermal
development in the region: high up-front costs.
Only one geothermal plant has opened by the Salton
Sea since 2000, even though the area is home to one of
the world’s strongest geothermal reservoirs. Researchersat the National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently
said there’s little hope of new geothermal plants
generating billions of dollars for the revitalization of the
Salton Sea, frustrating local officials who see energy
development as key to funding restoration projects.
But Rod Colwell, Controlled Thermal Resources’ chief
executive, believes his company will succeed whereothers have failed.
In the past, developers haven’t built Salton Sea
geothermal plants larger than 49.9 megawatts, because
doing so would require them to get approval from the
California Energy Commission, in addition to Imperial
County. But Colwell believes his company can bring
down costs through economies of scale. By building aplant at 250 megawatts, he said, it can offer electricity at
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

15

a price that’s attractive to utilities or other potential
buyers.
“Our goal is to generate competitive baseload power
that’s truly competitive with the fossil fuel market,” hesaid.
For now, the company plans to begin drilling test wells
and exploring the site. Colwell said he expects theenergy commission approval process to last 18 months,
and he hopes to finish construction on the power plantby 2020. The facility would be Controlled Thermal
Resources’ first project.
The company will pay the Imperial Irrigation District
US$ 40,000 per year during the exploration phase, plus
an additional US$190,000 annually once construction
begins. It would later pay royalties on any electricity it
generates.
Source:https://www.desertsun.com/story/tech/science/energy/2016/03/15/sa
lton-sea-could-get-new-geothermalpower-plant/81839422/

Wabuska Power Plant Starts Operations - The
4.4MW Wabuska geothermal power plant has started
operation. This was reported by middle March by
Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor Co., provider of aircompressors, that announced the company has
successively connected two geothermal power units to
the grid recently.
The company said it had received on-site reports on the
progress of both projects, namely, the Wabuska
geothermal power plant in Nevada, and the Turawellgeothermal power plant in Hungary. Both projects havestarted operations and generate power in goodcondition, said the Quzhou-based manufacturer.

Wabuska power plant. Photo source: Open Mountain Energy.

Starts 48MW Expansion of
Geothermal Plant in Nevada –On late March, Ormat Technologies
started work on the 48MW
expansion of its McGinness Hills
geothermal plant in Nevada, after
the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) approved thecompany’s proposal. The project’s
Phase III is expected to becompleted in December 2018. That
will make it the largest geothermal
power generation facility in the state
and the largest located on federal land managed by the
BLM.
Commercial production at the McGinness Hills
Geothermal facility began in July 2012, and Ormat
completed a second phase in 2015. The first two phases
gave the complex a generating capacity of 86 megawatts,
and power from phases I and II feeds the Nevada
Energy grid. Once Phase III is completed, generating
capacity is expected to increase to 134 MW. Phase III
will contribute power to the Southern California PublicPower Authority.
After the completion of Phase III, McGinness Hills will
include 15 production wells at about 600-1100 meters
deep producing water at temperatures of around 165°C.
The site will contain eight Ormat Energy Converters
and seven injection wells. All the geothermal fluid isreinjected into the reservoir.
The company’s capital investment for all three phases is
estimated to total about US$600 million.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/ormats-48mw-starting-expansion-work-of-mcginness-hillsgeothermal-plant/

In Wabuska, the two units of the plant have been
operating steadily for nearly two weeks, generating a
total of 4.4MW power. Following a three-month trial
period, the power generation capacity can be increased
by about 20 percent.
The Wabuska geothermal project was acquired by Open
Mountain Energy in April 2017. It is located at the
Wabuska community, in Lyon County, Nevada, mainlycomposed of Washo natives.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/4-4-mwwabuska-geothermal-power-plant-in-nevada-startedoperation/

ASIA/PACIFIC RIM
Southeast Asia: RE Market
Analysis Report by IRENAThe International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

16

in January its report Renewable Energy
Market Analysis: Southeast Asia. It is
the third report of this series of analysis, being
the first two editions focused on the GCC(Gulf Co-operation Council) region (2015)
and Latin America (2016). Some highlights
related to geothermal energy in the region are
as follows.
Geothermal capacity has been
deployed since the 1970s; over 2.5 GW
was installed in 2000, increasing to 3.4
GW in 2016. The Philippines, theworld’s second-largest producer ofgeothermal electricity after the UnitedStates, leads the region with nearly 2
GW deployed in 2016. Capacity in thePhilippines remained largely stablebetween 2000 and 2016, with much of
Investment in renewable power by technology in the Southeast Asia region,
the regional growth coming fromIndonesia, where capacity rose from2006-16 (Source: Based on BNEF, 2017. Note: Based also on power sector
525 MW to 1,534 MW in the sameasset finance data for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,time frame. Recently, Malaysia has also
Thailand and Viet Nam).
forayed into geothermal energy: its
first plant is scheduled to be operational by May 2019.
Overall, geothermal is the only technology that has seena slight increase in weighted average investment costs,
from US$ 2,937/kW in 2014 to US$ 3,185/kW in 2016.
Geothermal costs are highly dependent on the quality
and quantity of the resource (and associated economies
of scale) and the technological options chosen todevelop a site. The observed increase in investment
costs of 8% is most likely because of the quality of sites
being developed in 2014 and 2016.
The weighted average LCOE of geothermal projects
increased slightly from US$ 0.06/kWh in 2014 to US$
0.064/kWh in 2016, a 7% increase in LCOE mirroring
the observed increase in investment costs during theperiod.
Weighted average geothermal capacity factors declined
slightly from 86% in 2014 to 84% in 2016, most likely inline with the development of more challenging projects
in the region.
Investments in renewable energy sources in the region
have been variable in the last decade, with solar projects
leading the investment in the last seven years. However,investments in geothermal energy have two clear peaks
in 2011 and 2014, mostly in projects located inIndonesia (see attached graph).
Source: http://irena.org//media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2018/Jan/IRENA_Market_Southeast_Asia_2018_summary.pdf?la=en&hash=13DB344A7F8C8EBE30E2EB1A4CAFEC
9A63BDED11
www.geothermal-energy.org

China: Funding to Promote
Zero-Emissions Heating

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed facilities ofa total of US$250 million in loans to Arctic Green
Energy Corporation (AGE) and Sinopec Green Energy
Geothermal Company Limited (SGE) to expand
environmentally sustainable district heating services in
the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
AGE, based in Iceland, is a leading global developer andoperator of renewables, including geothermal
technology and energy efficiency projects. The
company’s mission is to export Icelandic expertise ingeothermal and renewables to fast growing countries in
Asia.
SGE, established in 2006, is the world’s largest
geothermal district heating company by service area. It
is a joint-venture between AGE and Sinopec Star of
Sinopec Group, also known as China Petrochemical
Corporation.
Coal-based heating is one of the major causes of air
pollution in the PRC, including in the Bejing-TianjinHebei region. Geothermal district heating is analternative sustainable, stable, and cost-competitive tocoal and gas, with zero-emissions, and can be integrated
into existing networks to replace heat sources.
“This is a landmark project for Asia. Geothermal district
heating can provide millions of citizens with safe andstable heat access while dramatically reducing air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and the reliance
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

17

on fossil fuels,” said ADB Vice-President for Private
Sector and Co-financing Operations Diwakar Gupta.

solar power plants, as well as distribute 17,000 barrels of
biofuel per day.

“How cities are heated or cooled in the 21st century will
determine the outcome in the fight against air pollution
and greenhouse emissions,” said SGE Vice Chairman
and AGE Chairman and Founder Haukur Hardarson.
“The funding from ADB enables AGE and SGE tosignificantly expand in the fight against air pollution
while providing much needed clean heating to thecitizens in the PRC.”

Within the same time frame, the company will beseeking opportunities to produce 300 MW from wind
power plants and 200 MW from biomass plants.
“The allocated investment for the renewable energy
business might reach around 10 to 15 percent in 2030,
compared to only nearly 1 percent as of today,”
Pertamina investment planning and risk management
director Gigih Prakoso told reporters
recently.
Pertamina has allocated US$5.59
billion in capital expenditure in 2018,up 55 percent annually. About 59
percent of the allocated figure will be
used to support its upstream businessactivities.
Moreover, Gigih said Pertamina would
use organic and inorganic growthstrategies to boost its renewablebusiness. “At first, we will develop
such a business ourselves. Then, we’ll
also pursue an acquisition in the next
few years,” he said.

AGE Corporation Chairman and Founder Haukur Hardarson (left), ADB
Vice-President for Private Sector and Co-financing Operations Diwakar
Gupta (center), and SGE Chief Financial Officer Xin Zhao (right) during
the signing ceremony (Photo: ADB).
“Joining hands with ADB will help strengthen our longterm
partnershiponsustainable
geothermal
development to fight against air pollution and reducegreenhouse emissions. We aim to replicate our
successful collaboration across Asia,” said SGE
Chairman and Sinopec Star Vice President Liu Shiliang.
Source: https://www.adb.org/news/adb-signslandmark-project-icelandic-chinese-venture-promotezero-emissions-heatingIndonesia: Pertamina Plans &Sumatra’s Geothermal
Potential
Pertamina Targets 2,300 MW from Geothermal
Power by 2030 - State-owned energy giant Pertamina
aims to gradually increase its investment spending forrenewable energy to around 15 percent of its total
capital expenditure by 2030 from a mere 1 percent atpresent.
Pertamina set a 2030 target to generate 2,300 megawatts(MW) from geothermal power plants and 600 MW fromwww.geothermal-energy.org

Pertamina
currently
operates
geothermal power plants with a
combined capacity of only 587 MW, amere 2 percent of the country's total
geothermal potential.

Source:http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/02/24/pertamina-renewable-investmentportion-to-reach-15-percent-by-2030.html
High Geothermal Potential in West Sumatra - Theprovincial Government of West Sumatra in Indonesia
sees potential for geothermal development on up to 16
sites around six mountains in the province. West
Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno said in February that
“In total there are 16 geothermal hotspots that can be
developed to generate electrical energy… with
development potential exceeding 1,600 MW.”So far only a fraction of that has been looked at fordevelopment. PT Supreme Energy is developing theMuara Laboh geothermal project in South Solok and PT
Hitay Daya Energy a geothermal project near Talang
Mountain in Solok District.
But there is more potential, e.g. in Mount Tandikek,
Mount Singgalang, and Mount Talamau which so far has
not seen any development. “West Sumatra has thepotential to develop that energy, because West Sumatra
is surrounded by 60% of protected forest, so the energy
sector is abundant,” said Irwan.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

18

Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/westsumatran-geothermal-energy-potential-estimated-at1600-mw/

Japan: Hot Springs Called on
to Share the SteamJapanese companies like Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries and Fuji Electric, dominate the global market
forgeothermal
turbines.
Theircombined share is 70%. Yet theircountry lags the world in geothermal
power generation.

The government, which intends to triple geothermal
power generation to around 1.5 million kW fromcurrent levels, intends to do more.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry willrevise its relevant guidelines during fiscal 2018 to allow
geothermal power developers to simultaneously moveahead with their written and actual environmental
impact assessments.

A number of reasons account for this,one of which is all the years it takes fora geothermal power plant to start
generating
electricity.
The
commercialization process, which also
includes drilling and environmental
studies, averages 14 years.
A solar plant can go up in a year. A
biomass project takes five, and a windfarm needs eight years before it canstart feeding the grid.
Here is another problem: 80% of those
prospective geothermal reservoirs are innational and quasi-national parks, where
digging and constructing new buildings
is illegal, in principle.
Another main obstacle is the onsen
resorts,whicharebecoming
increasingly popular among hordes offoreign and Japanese tourists alike.

This geothermal power plant sits in the Oita Prefecture town of Kokonoe(Photo taken from the source).

In the Kagoshima Prefecture city of Ibusuki, one ofJapan’s most famous hot-spring areas, hoteliers are
calling for a geothermal power generation project to be
scrapped. They fear being left with little water for their
tourist-luring baths.
Hot spring communities elsewhere in Japan are similarly
antagonistic toward geothermal power generation
projects.
Under a government-mandated feed-in tariff system,
electric utilities are required to purchase electricity
generated by renewable energy sources at fixed rates forextended periods.

METI hopes this will result in halving the amount oftime these assessments need to two years. The ministry
will also double the number of spots where it conducts
environmental and resource surveys, then publicize
promising geothermal power candidate locations.
As for the development of geothermal resources inside
national parks, regulations have been eased, except for“special protection areas”, making it possible for around
70% of all resources in these parks to be tapped.
Mitsubishi Materials and its partners plan to put into
operation the Wasabisawa geothermal power plant in
Akita Prefecture, perhaps during fiscal 2019. It will be
Japan’s first large-scale geothermal plant, with an output
capacity of more than 10 MW, in 23 years.

The FIT system has made it easier for geothermal
power plant developers, who never have to worry aboutbuying fuel, to see future profits.

Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/PoliticsEconomy/Economy/Japan-s-famed-hot-springs-calledon-to-share-the-steam?page=2

But the installed capacity of geothermal power plantsrose by only 3%, or 16 MW, after the system debuted in2012. During the same period, the nation’s solar power
capacity soared almost sevenfold, by 33.5 million kW.

Taiwan: First Mini Geothermal
Power Plant Starts to Operatewww.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
On early March, Raoul Kubitschek, a renewable energy
expert based in Taiwan, posted in his LinkedIn page thata 30kW ORC geothermal plant, manufactured by
Kaishan, started to operate in Zhiben, Taidong. He
indicated that this small plant is a first step, and it“…was installed for power production for the Rainbow
Hotel, after three years the developer finally could install
the meter and is now also able to sell to Taipower under
the FiT (Feed-in Tariff) scheme. It is these pioneers thatare laying the foundation for Taiwan‘s ambitious
renewable energy goals.” FiT for geothermal energy
were increased in December 2017 to accelerate
geothermal installations. The Ministry of Economic
Affairs increased it to US$ 0.205 per kilowatt-hour fromthe proposed US$ 0.188 for the first 10 years of theinstallations’ subsidiary period (see IGA News 110, p.
20).
Source:https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6375330893216747520/

19
Considered as the world’s seventh largest producer ofoil, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been focusing
on a research on potential uses of geothermal energy as
a new source of clean and renewable energy. The
project is being undertaken by the UAE University(UAEU) whose researchers are studying the geologicalsites in Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah.
They are also examining the hot water spring reservoirs
and analyzing their temperatures and sizes.
Researchers found out that the water temperaturereaches to as hot as 120°C at about 3 kilometers deep.
The project started in January last year with the goal ofunderstanding the possibility of using geothermal energy
in the UAE, said Dr Hakim Saibi, associate professor ofgeophysics at UAEU, and one of the researchers.
According to Dr Saibi, the findings did point to thepossibility of tapping geothermal energy in the UAE.
“The potential for using geothermal energy is good.
Based on our findings and the data gathered at the sites,
we can produce around 1,000 megawatts of electricity
using the geothermal energies from these areas,” he said.
“We can use this energy to power hundreds of homes,
and it is done without producing any CO2 emissions, so
it is a very clean and reliable source of energy,” headded.
Source:http://conceptnewscentral.com/index.php/2018/02/2
5/tapping-geothermal-energy-2/

EUROPE
Deep Geothermal
Implementation Plan

View of the plant. Photo posted by Raoul
Kubitschek.

United Arab Emirates:
Possible High Geothermal
Potential
www.geothermal-energy.org

The Deep Geothermal Temporary Working Group(TWG) is composed by Member states/Associatedcountries, stakeholders and the European Commission,
representing both the industry and the academia. It ischaired by national representatives from Italy and
Iceland and co-chaired by the European Technology &Innovation Platform on Deep Geothermal (ETIP-DG).
The group is focused on deep geothermal energy, which
can be directly used as heat or converted into electricity
or used for cooling purposes. Since its official formationin February 2017, the TWG have met regularly to draft
the Implementation Plan, that contains concrete R&I
activities and proposes relevant funding opportunities
for their realization, which are considered essential forachieving the agreed set of targets. The TWG identified
eight research and innovation (R&I) activities as well as
two non-technical barriers/enablers:
1. Geothermal heat in urban areas.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
2. Materials, methods and equipment to improve
operational availability (high temperatures, corrosion,scaling).
3. Enhancement of conventional reservoirs anddeployment of unconventional reservoirs.
4. Improvement of performance (conversion toelectricity and direct use of heat).
5. Exploration techniques (including resource predictionand exploratory drilling).
6. Advanced drilling/well completion techniques.
7. Integration of geothermal heat and power in theenergy system and grid flexibility.
8. Zero emissions power plants.

20
3. Reduce production costs of geothermal energy(including from unconventional resources, EGS, and/orfrom hybrid solutions which couple geothermal withother renewable energy sources) below 10 € cents(US$0.125) per kWh for electricity, and 5 € cents(US$0.07) per kWh for heat by 2025**.
4. Reduce the exploration costs by 25% in 2025, and by
50% in 2050 compared to 2015.
5. Reduce the unit cost of drilling (€/MWh) by 15% in
2020, 30% in 2030 and by 50% in 2050 compared to2015.
6. Demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of
responding to commands from a grid operator, at any
time, to increase or decrease output ramp up and downfrom 60% - 110% of nominal power.
The research and innovation (R&I) actions address
relevant issues crucial for the development of the use ofgeothermal energy resources, both as heat andelectricity. The implementation plan pays due attention
to low-enthalpy resources, which are widely present inEurope and whose development, together with that ofurban district heating networks fed by geothermal,
represents a key opportunity to increase renewable heat
supply.
With this IP, the work of the Deep Geothermal TWG iscompleted. The execution of the IP would becoordinated by a new dedicated structure.
*Reservoir performance includes underground heat storage.
**Costs have to be confirmed establishing at least five plants indifferent geological situations, of which at least one with large
capacity (20 MWe or, if for direct use only, 40 MWth).
Source: https://www.egec.org/implementation-planapproved/

The two non-technical barriers/enablers are:
- Increasing awareness of local communities andinvolvement of stakeholders in sustainable geothermal
solutions.
- Risk mitigation (financial/project).
The Implementation Plan includes a Declaration ofIntents, which establishes the following six targets forgeothermal energy in Europe:

New European Cluster: GeoEnergy Europe
Geo-Energy Europe officially started on January 1st, 2018
for a two years duration. It involves eight partners fromseven countries: Pole Avenia (coordinator) & Geodeep(France), EGEC (Belgium), GEOPLAT (Spain),
Geoenergy Celle (Germany), CAPES (Hungary), Jesder(Turkey), and Geoscience (Ireland).

1. Increase reservoir performance* resulting in power
demand of reservoir pumps to below 10% of grossenergy generation and in sustainable yield predicted forat least 30 years by 2030.
2. Improve the overall conversion efficiency, including
bottoming cycle, of geothermal installations at different
thermodynamic conditions by 10% in 2030 and 20% in
2050.
www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Geo-Energy Europe is a newborn transnational cluster
specifically aimed at increasing the performance andcompetitiveness of European Small and Medium-sizedEnterprises (SMEs) in all industries concerned by theuse of subsurface for energy, or geoenergy, ontransnational (EU) and world markets.
The two years project will target its actions towards thepromotion and industrial take-off of the emerging Deep
Geothermal Energy industry for district and industrial
heating and power generation, in line with the European
and most national energy transition goals.
The overarching purpose of the Geo-Energy Europe
project is to create a European Strategic Cluster
Partnership (ESCP) with a focus on the sustainable useof the subsurface for energy, as well as to develop andpropose an implementation roadmap for a joint
internationalization strategy to help this ESCP go
international (ESCP-4i), as encouraged by the COSME
call for projects “Clusters Go International” (COSCLUSINT-2016-03-01), and more specifically Strand 1aof the call. Building such a strategic partnership would
help create a sort of European label for export
opportunities and cooperation in know-how andtechnology transfer with third countries.
The current targeted third
countries are Bolivia, Canada,
Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador,Indonesia,
Japan,
Kenya,
Mexico, Peru, Philippines, andUnited States.
The detailed specific objectivesof the project are the following:
Fostertrans-national
partnership building, favoring
mutual learning and sharing ofresources,
cross-pollination
between countries & industry
sectors, skill & technology
transfer
towards
emerging
industries
such
as
deep
geothermal, CCS &thegeological storage of energy(other than hydrocarbon).
- Map skills, products & servicesof partners’ member SMEs andidentify complementarities andcross-sectorial technology andskill transfer opportunities toconsolidate value chains & allow complete offers in calls
for tenders. Analyze & prioritize research, development& innovation (RD&I) needs across the concerned
industrial sectors in Europe & worldwide. Enrich theindustrial offer through valorization of past & current
www.geothermal-energy.org

21
RD&I projects’ results and creating new partnerships
for future projects.
- Create a Partnership Agreement to formalize andsustain the partnership in the mid to long term, with aview to expand in geographic and thematic scope.
- Map, assess and prioritize high potential geo-energy
markets in Europe and around the globe, and more
specifically the deep geothermal energy markets to startwith.
- Develop a joint internationalization strategy to accessprioritized third country markets.
- Design an implementation roadmap to facilitate theinternationalization of SME members, and get started
with the associated action plan.
- Use existing tools (ECC platform) &/or create
dedicated communication material and capacity building
tools to disseminate knowledge and promote the knowhow, products & services of participants’ member
SMEs.
Source: https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/escpprofiles/geo-energy-europe

Renewable Energy Prospects
for the European
Union
The International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) launched
a new report, Renewable Energy
Prospects for the European Union(Executive Summary), which findsthat doubling the share of
renewables in the EU’s energy mix
by 2030 could not only meet the
EU’s emission reductions goals,
but also save up to € 113 billion(US$139 billion) per year in healthandenvironmental
costs,
significantly increase renewables
employment, and trigger additional
investments of € 368 billion (US$453 billion).
The report, developed at therequestoftheEuropeanCommission, highlights that all EU
Member States have additional
cost-effective renewable energy
potential. Among its key findings are:
- Doubling the share of renewables in the EU’s energy
mix to 34% by 2030 could: save between € 44 and 113
billion per year in health and environmental costs;
reduce carbon emissions by a further 15 per cent byApril-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
2030, equivalent to Italy’s total annual emissions;significantly increase renewables employment in the EUfrom its current level of € 1.2 million; and trigger
additional investments of € 368 billion, equivalent to 0.3
of the EU’s annual GDP.
- Reaching a 34% renewable share by 2030 would
require an estimated average investment in renewableenergy of around € 62 billion (US$ 76 billion) per year.
- 17% of Europe’s transport energy, 34% of its heating
and cooling, and 50% of its power generation could be
met with renewable energy.
- Reducing the EU’s carbon emissions by 15% by 2030
will bring it in line with its goal to reduce emissions by
40% compared to 1990 levels.
- Heating and cooling account for more than one-thirdof the EU’s untapped renewable energy potential.
- All renewable transport options, including electricvehicles and biofuels, are needed to realize long-term
EU de-carbonization objectives.
Tapping the additional renewable energy potentials
identified in the study would propel the EU further on ade-carbonization pathway compatible with the ‘wellbelow’ 2°C objective established in the Paris Agreement.
Source:https://irena.org/publications/2018/Feb/Renewableenergy-prospects-for-the-EU

22
contracts came out of the first call. We are very proudthat the fund is being received so well, both by theindustry and by the developing financial institutions.”
The other nominees were: GPC Instrumentation
Process (France), for the design and implementation of
the first sub-horizontal well in a geothermal project, atechnique so far only used for oil drilling that allows to
drain more hot water over a long length; Politecnico di
Torino (Italy), for their system ENERTUN, that allows
transforming a tunnel lining into a low enthalpy
geothermal system; PORCIÓ Ltd. (Hungary), for the
Gyopáros Production and Reinjection Geothermal
System, in operation at Gyopáros Thermal SPA; RWTH
Aachen University (Germany), for the development of
their Temperature Sensor Module (TSM) for detecting
groundwater flow velocity and direction near a boreholeheat exchanger.
A total of 19 nominations were received from around
Europe. These included submissions from a wide rangeof companies and research institutes.
The European Geothermal Innovation Award is an
initiative from EGEC, the European Geothermal
Energy Council, in collaboration with Messe Offenburg,organizers of the GeoTHERM fair and congress. The
award is given to entities that have made an outstanding
contribution towards the field of geothermal energy.
Source: https://www.egec.org/gdf-latin-americageothermal-innovation-year/

GDF Latin America Won theEuropean Geothermal
Innovation Award 2018
During the opening ceremony of the GeoTHERM
Exhibition and Congress 2018, the European
Geothermal Innovation Award 2018 was awarded to
the Geothermal Development Facility (GDF) Latin
America, the first multi-donor climate initiative offeringrisk mitigation for surface studies and appraisal drillings
during the exploration phase of geothermal projects in
Latin America.
GDF is an innovative financial mechanism that fosters
geothermal development in Latin America, both inSouth America and Central America. It has been
operational for two years and is mainly funded by theEuropean Union and Germany.
“On behalf of the Geothermal Development Facility
for Latin American I am very proud to receive thisaward,” said Christoph Sigrist, Head of Division,
Energy and Financial Sector, Latin America, at KFW,
who has followed the project since the beginning.
“Currently we are working on getting additional funds
from the Green Climate Fund and on preparing asecond call for proposals. About eight financing
www.geothermal-energy.org

Award ceremony conducted by Ruggero Bertani, Presidentof EGEC.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

Belgium: Geothermal Heating
Plant Inaugurated in Ghlin
On middle February, the intercommunal economic
development group IDEA in Belgium inaugurated its
second geothermal heating station in Ghlin, near Mons.
The plant is now supplying geothermal heating tocompanies in the area. It is the first Belgian area of
economic activity (40 ha) to be powered by geothermalenergy.
The hot aquifer in the region was discovered by chance,at the beginning of the twentieth century, when digging
galleries to extract coal. Then, in the 1970s, theGeological Survey of Belgium began research and theintercommunal IDEA then invested in geothermalenergy.
IDEA has a long experience in this field. For three
decades, it has been promoting the geothermal water
resources of the Mons basin. Its geothermal network
supplies hot water, for heating and hot water productionneeds, two hospitals, three schools, a swimming pooland 355 public housing, Saint-Ghislain station as well asprivate companies like AW Europe, located in thezoning of Ghlin-Baudour.
The Ghlin well produces water at a temperature of 65
degrees Celsius, at a depth of 1500 meters. “This allows
us not to use fossil fuels and to offer 100% renewableenergy with no CO2 emissions.” explains Caroline
Decamps, IDEA’s Managing Director.
“The price of fossil fuels is relatively low at the
moment, we are offering similar prices, but we canguarantee price control, which is not the case with fossil
fuels,” says David Charlet, mines engineer at IDEA.
The Walloon Minister for Ecological Transition, Carlo
Di Antonio (CDH), applauds the project in Mons.
“Zoning with renewable energy production is the future,they will have a lesser impact on their environment and23
they will allow companies to control the cost of energy.”
The intercommunal IDEA is developing anotherproject. Through European and Walloon co-financing,it received funding of €14 million (US$17.5 million) todrill two other wells to a depth of 2500 meters in order
to set up an urban heat network feeding the hospital
Ambroise Paré. Drilling is expected to begin in 2020.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/newgeothermal-heating-project-starts-operation-in-monsbelgium/

France: Doublet of Subhorizontal Geothermal Wells
Completed
On late March, a second sub-horizontal geothermal wellhas been completed on the Paris suburban Cachan site
by GPC Instrumentation Process (GPC IP) for its
customer Dalkia, which is part of the EDF Group.
The new well, which will serve as the injection unit of
the local Geothermal District Heating doublet, is similar
in design to the production well achieved in late
December 2017, recorded as a world premiere in
geothermal well engineering. It features an open-holedrain, 8 1/2 inches in diameter and 1005 m long.
The first sub-horizontal well was considered a world
premiere in geothermal engineering, as it achieved 1001
meter long, 87° slanted, and 8 1/2 inches open-holedrain in the Dogger/Bathonian, Mid Jurassic, oolithic
limestone, target reservoir, at a 1550 m true verticaldepth.
The concept was first published in February 2011 at the
Stanford Geothermal Workshop, proved rewarding,further to well tests, evidencing a 450 m3/hour nominal
discharge and a 16 MWth rated capacity.
The new doublet, managed by a Dalkia/City of Cachan
JV (Dalkia operator) will replace two, 34 year
old, existing geothermal district heating
doublets, with a capacity of 350 m3/h.
Source:http://geothermalresourcescouncil.blogspot.
mx/2018/03/france-geothermal_20.html

Location of the project. (Source:
https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_le-premier-zoning-belgealimente-par-la-geothermie-attend-ses-entreprises?id=9835833)
www.geothermal-energy.org

Germany: Taufkirchen
Plant, Small Modular
Plants & Tomatoes
Produced with
Geothermal Heat
Stable Power Production in Taufkirchen
Geothermal Power Plant - The geothermal
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
power plant of GeoEnergie Taufkirchen GmbH & Co.
KG, a subsidiary of the drilling technology andgeothermal specialist Daldrup & Söhne AG, has started
electricity production in Taufkirchen. This was precededby successfully completed system tests of thecomponents of the power generation plant in recent
days. This means that, for the first time and in parallelto the district heating supplied to the communities of
Taufkirchen and Oberhaching, environmentally friendly
electricity generated at the power plant will now be fed
into the public grid.
With the weather-related decline in district heatingproduction, the power production of the plant is being
ramped up further. A further heat exchanger will beconnected in the second half of 2018. Thus, fromtoday’s perspective electricity production will thengradually switch to full load operation. For the further
planning of the 2018 financial year, the management
board assumes that corresponding feed-in revenues canbe generated from power generation, more than fromheat production.
Source: http://www.4-traders.com/DALDRUPSOEHNE-AG-471189/news/Daldrup-Sohne-AGSuccessful-test-operation-and-stable-power-productionin-Taufkirchen-geothermal-26216669/
Small Modular Power Plants to Use Excess
Geothermal Heat - The Swedish company Climeon
AB has received its first major order for a geothermal
power plant in Germany, which will operate on original
oil and gas infrastructure from the Bavarian energy
provider Geoenergie Kirchweidach (GEK).

24
for extensive use of geothermal energy in mostgeographical areas. The deal with GEK shows thatgeothermal heat power could play a major role inGermany’s strong commitment to shift into sustainable,
clean energy solutions.
“To invest in geothermal heat power is good for manyreasons. A long-term electricity contract (PPA) as strong
financial base and a reliable 24/7 power production
makes this an attractive and low risk project at the sametime as we can accelerate the transformation from fossil
to green energy”, said Magnus Brandberg, Founding
partner, Baseload Capital Sweden AB”We are very excited with this breakthrough order.
Germany is leading renewable energy in Europe andgeothermal heat power especially at low temperatures
has every property to become the dominating source of
renewable energy”, said Thomas Öström, Founder and
CEO of Climeon.
Source:https://climeon.com/insights/climeon/climeon-winsbreakthrough-geothermal-order-in-germany
Acreage of Strabena Tomato Doubled - Through theuse of geothermal energy, vegetable producer Steiner
has been distinguishing itself for several years with its
sustainable production, high product quality andexclusive supply to the regional Rewe branches. Four
years after the opening of the first geothermal-heatedgreenhouse area of 11.4 hectares, the greenhousecomplex now consists of more than 20 hectares.

On November 29, 2017 Climeon entered a Letter ofIntent with GEK, and now GEK decided to proceedand placed the order for 16 heat power units to bedelivered within 12 months, with a value of over €5million (US$6.2 million). The order marks an important
step in replacing fossil fuels with a sustainable
geothermal baseload.
The deal will enable GEK to utilize the excess heat of
the geothermal plant that today delivers heat to the local
greenhouse business and the city of Kirchweidach. The
geothermal resource was originally identified throughthe exploration drilling for oil and gas in the area.
The modular Climeon Heat Power system will work in
conjunction with the heating and it is estimated that thefirst phase will annually deliver 14,000 MWh ofelectricity to the grid. The order is for 16 modules, with
an option for GEK to order additional modules in asecond phase to expand the production to more than
20,000 MWh annually. Baseload Capital Sweden AB will
be involved in the financing of the deal.
The Climeon Heat power system’s ability to create
energy from low temperature water offers a possibility
www.geothermal-energy.org“The tomato season is year-round here. In addition to
9.6 hectares of conventional tomatoes, we also have 2.2
hectares with artificial lighting, where we grow theBrioso variety over the winter months,” says Wolfgang
Steiner.
An expansion of six hectares is planned for next year,
only for organic products. The field is currently in theconversion phase and construction is expected to becompleted in December 2018. This will be followed by
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
planting, and the first harvest of regional organic
tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers will take place at the
beginning of April 2019.
Source:http://www.freshplaza.com/article/191196/Acreageof-Strabena-tomato-doubled

Iceland: Small Geothermal
Power Units & Construction of
New 5MW Power Plant
Local Community to Install Small Geothermal
Power
Units
The
municipalityof
Hrunamannahreppur and the local heat utility in Flúðir
have reached an agreement with the company
Varmaorkur for a co-operation for the production of
low temperature geothermal electricity. The partners
recently established a new company called Flúðaorka,
which plans to start production of hot water in the areain the second quarter of 2018.
The intention is to produce up to 600 kW of electricity
to be fed into the system of power distribution company
Rarik. “It’s about the technique that it’s taking thehottest part water, or from 115 degrees Celsius, andbringing it down to 75 degrees and producing electricity
from it. In this case, the idea is to utilize about 20 liters
per second in the electricity production, while thecapacity of the hole is 45 liters per second,” says themunicipality mayor of Hrunamannahreppur, Jón G.
Valgeirsson.
The power generation system is made up of small,
flexible units that produce up to 150 kW of electricity.
Each unit is independent so it’s simple to increase or
decrease the output. During production, the watertemperature decreases without changing its amount or
quality. The activities of the new company are muchanticipated, says Valgeirsson.

Flúðir25“Yes, this is a very exciting task and completely new for
us to produce electricity from hot water. It’s also great
because it’s exploiting geothermal resources thatgenerate clean and renewable electricity withtechnologies that make it possible to utilize geothermalenergy much better than before,” says the local
government.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/localcommunity-in-iceland-to-install-four-small-geothermalpower-generation-units/
Construction of New 5MW Power Plant Started - In
March 2017, Green Energy Geothermal (GEG),
headquartered in London, UK, was awarded a contract
to design, manufacture and supply a replacement backpressure turbine and generator for the Bjarnarflag
geothermal power plant of Icelandic national powercompany Landsvirkjun in Iceland. The plant has been in
operation since 1969 and is now being updated.
While the old plant has seen a decrease in production, it
has been a reliable and important source of power for
the Myvatn region in the North of Iceland.
Construction work is now underway, with sufficientarrangements to make sure there is no interference withrelated activities in the area, which particularly concerns
the operation of the local heating plant and the supplyof water to the geothermal spa operation at Myvatn.
There is no decision yet on what will happen to the oldhardware of the plant, which was built in 1934
representing a significant piece of history. For the
beginning it will be stored in Landsvirkjun’s facilities onsite, but there are plans to use it as a showcase of thefirst geothermal power plant in Iceland.
Source: http://www.geg.co.uk/construction-atbjarnarflag-project-in-iceland-under-way/

Italy: New Geothermal Plant
with ‘Zero-Emissions’to Be Built inCastelnuovo
On late January, a Development
Agreement was signed between the Italianenergy firm Graziella Green Power andthe global energy player ENGIE, throughits subsidiaries Storengy and ENGIE
Italia, starting a cooperation to realize an
innovative binary cycle geothermal plant,
located in Castelnuovo Val di Cecina(Tuscany Region, Italy).
The project, whose main works are set tobegin in 2019, consists in developing,building and operating a geothermal

www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

26

power plant of 5MW net capacity. It will be a zeroemission plant thanks to an innovative solution: aftergenerating electric power, the previously extracted
geothermal fluid will be re-injected in the same reservoir
together with non-condensable gases (CO2 and others),sustaining a production cycle without atmosphericemissions.

ambition to keep realizing in the future, other stations
like the one based in Val di Cecina”, said Gianni Gori,
President of Graziella Green Power.

When it is fully operational, the geothermal plant willreach an energy production estimated at around 40,000
MWh per year (enough to supply electricity to 14,000
families), generating also important economic benefits
for the local communities. To ensure a minimal
environmental impact on territory and population, theplant layout has been designed to limit its land footprint,
with a low visual impact and without evaporative
cooling towers.

The Netherlands: Zwolle andTrias Westland Geothermal
Projects

Once the administrative authorizations have beenobtained, civil works and drilling activities will begin onsite. ENGIE will provide its industrial background forthe project management and operation of power plants,
and through its subsidiary Storengy, an internationallyrecognized expertise in subsurface knowledge, fordrilling execution and geoscience activities. GraziellaGreen Power will support the underground explorationand drilling activities and will be an active actor on the
territory for the site and project management activities.
Iacopo Magrini, Chief Executive Officer of GraziellaGreen Power, said “Our company was seeking a big
statement partner to realize innovative projects linked togeothermal power, and ENGIE has shown its intention
to extend its commitment in this kind of renewableenergy. The work that we have carried out so far,
together with ENGIE’s and its subsidiary Storengy’s
competences and knowledge, will allow to reach a new
step for the future of the Italian geothermal sector.”“Committed to the energy transition, geothermal energy
is a key component of Storengy’s strategy. Thispartnership with Graziella Green Power is a fantastic
opportunity for us to be part of a very innovative
project, with our first geothermal plant in Italy,”declared Cécile Prévieu, Chief Executive Officer ofStorengy.

Source: http://www.4-traders.com/news/StorengyENGIE-Storengy-and-Graziella-Green-Power-togetherfor-the-first-geothermal-power-plant-i--25906345/

Exploration Permit for Geothermal Project inZwolle - The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs andClimate has granted the municipality of Zwolle a license
for drilling for geothermal heat. The permit gives themunicipality the exclusive right to apply geothermalenergy in the provincial capital.
The granted exploration license covers a large part ofZwolle with a total surface area of 75 square kilometers.
The area that was considered promising by themunicipality in December 2017, between the Dijklanden
and the Stadskolk at the Zwarte Water, is also included.
Zwolle had to wait almost two years for the ministry’s
promise, since it submitted the application in March2016. The TNO Advisory Board, the State Supervisionof Mines, the Provincial Executive of the province ofOverijssel and the Mining Council issued their opinions
during this period.
The license granted applies for the next four years. A
location in Hanzeland, that for years seemed to be themost promising location to drill, was not suitablebecause the geological structure of the soil proved
unsuitable, after studies finished in last December. Dueto the changed area, further research is needed. “It has
not yet been decided whether, and if so, when, it isgoing to be drilled”, the municipality said in a written“This project is a concrete example of our vision of the
3D world (Decarbonized, Decentralized, Digitalized),”said Olivier Jacquier, Chief Executive Officer of
ENGIE Italy. “ENGIE wants to be an actor of thisvision, through the development of renewable sourcesand energy efficiency, with the fundamental push ofinnovation, the main driver of all our solutions”.
“Tuscany is one of the most important geothermal polein the world. So, our project is oriented to enhance thisrichness with a compatible plant, without emissions andin harmony with the landscape context, which will open
in Italy new frontiers for the geothermal sector, with thewww.geothermal-energy.org

Drilling rig at the Trias Westland Project.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
statement. The current research is financed from thefunds already provided.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/zwolle-in-thenetherlands-receives-exploration-permit-for-geothermalproject/
Well Drilled at almost 4000 Meters Depth - The
drilling for the Trias Westland geothermal project
reached the Triassic layer, at 4000 meters depth, at theend of January 2018. The casings were placed and theborehole was firmly cemented. This was the most
exciting section of the project and, despite a number oftechnical challenges, it was completed successfully.
Then it was investigated the section considered as thereservoir section. This was done with special measuring
equipment lowered deep into the borehole. Amongother things, the permeability of the rock, the chemical
properties of the water and the strength of the rockwere measured. Also core samples were retrieved.
Based on that info, it was concluded that the Triassic
layer, turned out not to be suitable for cost-effective
heat recovery. The permeability of the Triassic layer is
by far not sufficient to pump water upwards. According
to project manager, Floris Veeger, water flow is almost
impossible in this rock. In addition, traces of gas havebeen found, which make a production test very
complex. These factors led to the decision to leave theTriassic layer. The lower part of the hole was closed off
with cement plugs.
The Lower Cretaceous layer instead, or more specificallythe Delft sandstone layer, appears to be even better thanoriginally thought. In the third section the casing
perforations have been made through which the watercan flow.
On early March it was performed the production test in
the
Lower
Cretaceous
Reservoir. Water from a depthof 2.3 kilometers was pumped
up. The test went very well.
The hot water flowed verysmoothly into the basin and thegas in the water was flared off.
Samples were taken andmeasurements were made to
determine, among other things,
the pressure and temperature.
With this information the
project team has started therealization of the heat network.
The exact potential of thegeothermal doublet will beknown at the end of April,when the second well has been
drilled and tested.
www.geothermal-energy.org

27
The Trias Westland geothermal project is a partnership
between Flora Holland, HVC, Westland Infra and theMunicipality of Westland. It is the first geothermal
project in the Netherlands drilled up to the Triassiac
layer, situated at a depth of 4 kilometers. T&A Survey
Group B.V. is a Dutch company who has been involvedin the Trias Westland project from the beginning, andnow provides the drilling management.
Sources: http://www.ta-survey.nl/index.php?lang=EN,
http://www.tasurvey.nl/nieuws.php?id=399&lang=EN,
http://www.tasurvey.nl/nieuws.php?id=400&lang=EN

Spain: Canary Islands to
Explore Geothermal Potential
The Tenerife Government is proposing that the Spanish
Government undertakes drilling exploration to identify
the potential of geothermal energy in the CanaryIslands, and the only region in Spain where this could
possibly exist, and requires around 20 million euros toexplore the subsoil.
Similar initiatives have been simultaneously presented inGran Canaria and La Palma, because these three islands
specifically have previously made joint efforts toevaluate the geothermal potential of the Canary Islands
with direct involvement, but with little success insupport from the Spanish Government.
It is suggested that three drilling sites should be
sufficient for Tenerife geothermal energy exploration
with a third of these costs covered by the island
government, one third covered by a private initiativethat has an interest, and the need for state aid to cover
the final third of costs.

Spain

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Nemesio Pérez, scientific coordinator of Involcan, said
that the Division of Volcanism and Environment of theTechnological and Renewable Energy Institute, and theVolcanic Energy Centre have carried out previous
projects to search for geothermal resources of hightemperature (more than 150°C) in Ecuador, El Salvador,
Ethiopia, Iceland, Kenya, Morocco, New Zealand andRwanda.
The special case of the Canary Islands is remarkable asgeothermal power could produce virtually emission-freeand continuous production, allowing improvements inthe security and stability of the existing electric power
supply.
In Tenerife, there are five mining areas or domains ofover 100 square kilometers for geothermal exploration
including Guia de Isora, Santiago del Teide, Garachico,
Icod de los Vinos, Arona, Adeje, Vilaflor, San Miguel deAbona, Granadilla de Abona, Arico, Fasnia, Guimar,
Candelaria and Arafo.
The Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME)
has widely studied the Canary Islands for its great
geothermal potential due to active underground volcanic
activity between 1970 and 1980 with favorable results,
and it was considered the only region of Spain with highenthalpy geothermal resources was the Canary Islands.
However, over the last 20 years no progress has been
made in geothermal research in these islands.
Source:http://canaryislandsreport.com/?post_id=363&title=%
E2%80%8Bcanary-islands-exploring-potential-ofunderground-geothermal-energy

Sweden: Study on Deep
Geothermal Energy in Skåne
Geothermal energy could have great potential and be an
important component in achieving the energy andclimate goals in Skåne, the southernmost county of
Sweden across the sea from Copenhagen, the capital of
Denmark.

28
The Swedish company E.ON announced its
participation in a preliminary study on the conditions
for using geothermal heat and thermal power in the
future.
The preliminary study on energy from deep geothermalenergy started in December 2017 to be completed in
May 2018, and is run by the County Administrative
Board in Skåne. The aim is to investigate the geothermal
conditions in Skåne and how a combination ofgeothermal heat and thermal power could be used toprovide a continuous flow of both heat and electricity.
Geothermal was selected due to its continue availability,
unlike many other renewable energy technologies thatare variable depending on the weather, which thus placedemands on energy storage.
The project analyzes, both technically and economically,
how modern geothermal technology combined withthermal power could be used on a larger scale in Skåne.
The study also includes a study of geological conditions,energy potential, risks, challenges, environmental impact
and how the results from the preliminary study could be
implemented in an implementation project with regard
to, for example, green jobs and the development of ageothermal knowledge center.
Participants in the project are E.ON, Againity, Climeon,
Geoop, County Administrative Board of Skåne andMalmö city.
Financiers are the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) and the Region of Skåne.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/e-onparticipating-in-study-on-deep-geothermal-energy-insweden/

Turkey: Kizildere III U-2,
Construction of Small Plant &Ambitious Plans for
GeothermalCommissioning of Kizildere III, Unit 2 - Zorlu
Dogal Elektrik, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Zorlu
Enerji, has commissioned the 65.5 MW second unitof its US$320 million Kizildere III plant on theborder between the southwestern provinces of
Aydin and Denizli.
With the second unit now generating the plantcurrently has an installed capacity of 165 MW –making it the largest in Turkey.
Zorlu now operates a portfolio of five geothermal
plants, totaling 329.9 MW. Overall the company
holds some 31% of Turkey’s total geothermal
capacity across 40 sites totaling 1100 MW.
The company also holds a so-called “pre-license”

www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
for the 50-MW Alasehir III geothermal plant, for which
it held a public consultation meeting last month, in linewith the requirements of the environmental impact
assessment submitted for the plant. The project iscurrently under consideration by Turkey’s Ministry for
Environment and Urban Affairs.
Turkey ranks fourth in the world in terms of installed
geothermal capacity, and with its 1100 MW of installed
geothermal capacity has already exceeded its official
target of 1000 MW by 2023.
Turkey’s main geothermal steam resources are locatedthe central Aegean region, stretching inland from Izmir
to Usak, the north Aegean region around Balikesir, as
well as further sites in north central Anatolia around thecapital Ankara and smaller reserves in the far east andnorth-east of the country.
Estimates for the country’s total geothermal potential
vary and are subject to frequent increases as newreserves are discovered. However, the figure of 4500
MW is often quoted as a theoretical potential for overall
installed geothermal power generation capacity, while
estimates for geothermal heating capacity may extend
anywhere up to 60,000 MW.
Source: https://newsbase.com/topstories/zorlucompletes-turkey%E2%80%99s-largest-geothermalplant

29
Exergy and utilizing an air cooled condensing system.
Some of the power plant components will be
manufactured domestically in the Exergy’s Turkish
workshop based in Izmir and thanks to an exclusive
partnership with Nidec ASI for the supply of thegenerators. Made-in-Turkey production will allow GCL
to benefit from an additional total incentive of
US$0.02/kWh on top of the basic feed-in-tariff rate of
US$0.105/ kWh, thus the increase of 19% in revenue
for the client.
Golden Concord Group Limited (GCL) is an integrated
energy service provider whose business covers Power,
PV and Clean Energy, Oil & Gas, Green Smart City,
semiconductor materials, new energy vehicles andFinance.
ND Group, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is a
privately owned holding and investment company
operating in multiple sectors and industries worldwide,
investing and encouraging entrepreneurial start-ups withpotential for long-term growth. The company looks forinnovative ideas and businesses with a focus on key
markets such as Energy, Technology, Services, Fashion,
Food and Beverages. Since 2015, GCL and ND Groups
started their collaboration to develop a geothermal
power plant in Turkey.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/exergy-signscontract-on-supply-of-plant-for-new-12-6-mwgeothermal-plant-in-turkey/
Turkish Company Plans to Double its Geothermal
Capacity – Turkish company Turcas Petrol AS plans todouble its geothermal installed capacity in the mid-term
said Batu Aksoy, the Turcas Petrol CEO. He added thatgeothermal investors are awaiting details of a
replacement of the current Turkish Renewable Energy
Resources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM).
Aksoy underlined the importance of seeing an
innovative mechanism in order that investors can take aserious and strong position for future undertakings.
He also pointed out that a vital request from lawmakers
on the YEKDEM mechanism is to see sustainablesupport from Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources
Ministry.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Kizildere Power
Plant. By Erdinҫ Sentϋrk. GRC Photo Contest.
New 12.6 MW Power Plant to Be Built - The Italiancompany Exergy signed a new contract for the delivery
of a 12.6 MW geothermal power plant to GCL ND
Enerji A.S.
Located in Alasehir, Manisa region, the plant will exploit
a medium enthalpy resource at approximately 150°C
with an Organic Rankine Cycle system equipped with
the Radial Outflow Turbine technology developed bywww.geothermal-energy.org

Currently, YEKDEM offers a feed-in tariff of US$0.073
per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for wind and hydropower
projects, US$0.105 for geothermal facilities and
US$0.133 for solar energy and biomass thermal plants.
However, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Sources
Minister Berat Albayrak announced on Nov. 1, 2017that the YEKDEM mechanism would not meet thedemand from the clean energy sector, and would notcontinue after 2020.
Aksoy hailed Turkey’s position in geothermal
developments in recent years and said that Turkey
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
achieved fourth place globally in installed geothermalenergy capacity.
Turkey is geographically located in an active tectonic
zone, and is therefore rich in terms of geothermalenergy resources, he explained.
According to Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources
Ministry’s official web page, the country has
approximately 1000 geothermal springs of various
temperatures located across the country. In theory,
Turkey’s geothermal potential could reach 31,500
thermal megawatts.
Furthermore, 90 percent of the country’s geothermal
resources are in low and medium enthalpy geothermalareas, which are suitable for direct applications ofheating, thermal tourism, and the output of minerals,etc., while the remaining 10 percent is suitable for power
generation.
Currently, geothermal energy is used for electricity
production, both greenhouse and residential heating,thermal and health tourism, industrial mineral mining
and for drying purposes.
Source: https://aa.com.tr/en/energy/finance/turcaspetrol-to-double-geothermal-capacity-in-midterm/19226

UK: Coal Mines as Geothermal
Sources and Energy Storages
As mines are abandoned, pumps switched off and mines
flood. Geothermal heat, transmitted from theunderground find the mining legacy ideal conduits andwarms this mine water to temperatures typically 2040°C. Calculations suggest that the flooded mineworkings are now a source of heat –with an estimated
2.2 million gigawatt hours of harvestable heat being
produced per annum. That is enough to heat five times
the number of homes in the UK, andwith over one quarter of UK homes
being in the coalfields the opportunity isenormous.
Mine heat is low grade, which means it
is unsuitable for generating electricity as
steam, but ideal for cost effectively
heating homes, warehouses, leisurecentres and offices. With approximately
45 per cent of heat in England andWales used for heating, and 55 per centin Scotland, this is a significant
proportion of UK energy demand. To
harvest the heat requires the use of heatexchangers and pumps. These work thesame as the refrigerators we have at
home. They use electricity to remove
heat and cool the heat source.
www.geothermal-energy.org

30This is a highly efficient process, for every 1kW ofelectricity 5-10 kW of heat equivalent are produced(depending on source temperature), this represents a
cost and carbon advantage over public supply gas. If theelectricity used in the heat pumps is supplied fromrenewables, the mine heat would be virtually carbon
free.
UK mines come in all shapes and sizes. Some are ideal
as a continuously recharging source of geothermalenergy. Others could see a reduction in temperature if
the rate of withdrawal exceeds natural recharge. This iswhere storing of energy in the mine comes into its own
as a means of holding significant quantities of energy
across-seasons for later use. This concept comes into its
own as a means of assisting the balancing the electricity
grid, not only across seasons, but also through daily
peaks.
The Coal Authority, an executive non-departmental
public body that manages around £3 billion (US$4.22
billion) worth of coal mining issues, are particularlyinterested in promoting a district heating scheme using
thermal panel on residents roofs as a source of heat forlong term storage. Thermal panels are 95 per centefficient and can produce up to 60 per cent of a home’s
heat requirement per annum.
The difficulty is they produce high temperature hotwater mostly during the summer and most efficiently
between peak usages. If this heat was stored in mines,
residents would benefit from be able to draw their heatback when they most need it.
The Coal Authority is currently working with
Midlothian Council, Scotland, on the use of anabandoned mine shaft as a heat storage vessel of some
12,000 cubic meters being charged from surplus heatfrom an Energy from Waste Plant currently underconstruction. Stored heat will feed into a district heating

Graph credit: UK’s The Coal Authority
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
scheme providing operational and energy savings to thescheme and plant operator.
The Coal Authority is keen to see the building ofcommercial scale pilot schemes to kick-start an industry.
One of the first to be the Bridgend Council, Wales,
Caerau district heating scheme in which pilot boreholes
have found 20.5°C in a roadway at just 220m below
ground level.
Source: https://utilityweek.co.uk/coal-mines-energystorage/

31
Source:https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/101292443/jointiwi-and-japan-hydrogen-pilot-project-for-taup
Community Invests in Geothermal Alpine Fault
Study – Gloriavale’s Christian Community has invested
NZ$20,000 (US$14,600) in a geothermal study. The
community, which sits near the Alpine Fault at Haupiri,West Coast of the South Island, is composed of morethan 90 families (around 600 inhabitants) who aremembers of the Church at Gloriavale in New Zealand.

Oceania
New Zealand: Hydrogen
Pilot Project & Alpine
Fault Study
Joint Māori and Japanese Hydrogen Pilot
Project with Geothermal Energy - A projectto pilot the commercial production ofhydrogen using renewable geothermal energy
has been announced. Taupō-based Tuaropaki
Trust and Japanese construction company
Obayashi Corporation, have signed a
View of the Gloriavale community. Photo taken from the source.
memorandum of understanding (MoU) to start
producing hydrogen, a fuel which produces no carbon
The community runs the drilling company Ocean
emissions.
Harvest International, which prospects for oil and gas
Tuaropaki Trust opened the 113MW Tuaropaki
geothermal power station, near Taupō, in 2000, and hasother farming and engineering assets in the North
Island.
The new venture MoU was signed in Tokyo in
December 2017 between Obayashi Corporation
President, Toru Shiraishi and Tuaropaki Trust Deputy
Chairman, Jamie Ataria.
Obayashi Corporation is one of the world's leading
construction companies and a global heavyweight
known for its expertise and technological innovation.
Obayashi President, Toru Shiraishi, welcomed the new
venture with Tuaropaki. He said they had a “mediumto-long-term environmental vision” called Obayashi
Green Vision 2050 and they were committed toreducing CO2 emissions to help achieve a sustainable
society.
Tuaropaki Chairman, Tumanako Wereta said Tuaropaki
has long been committed to renewable energy. “We arevery interested in other 'green energy' alternatives whichalign with our strategy and core values. We look forward
to working with Obayashi Corporation to explore thepotential for commercial hydrogen production using
renewable geothermal energy to create a CO2-free fuel.”www.geothermal-energy.org

on the West Coast and hires out drilling equipment.
Now they have already bought a drilling rig to access
hot water deep underground.
GNS Science business development manager Dave
Jennings said NZ$160,000 (US$ 117,200) funding had
been secured for the study so far. The lead funder was
Development West Coast.
GNS Science had enough funding to make a start on
the six-month project – the first of three stages into
using geothermal resource. It wanted to find uses forgeothermal heat such as horticulture, hot pools,
accommodation facilities, and industrial applications.
The possibility of small-scale electricity generation
would also be considered.
The six-month study – the first of three stages – would
investigate how the water could be used, he said.
Depending on the study’s outcome, phase two would
involve fieldwork on high priority sites and the final
phase would be to develop pilot projects that businesses
could tap into. The second and third stages would eachtake up to 18 months and include drilling, consent andseeking funding from potential users and investors.
The study would come up with potential commercial
uses of low temperature geothermal heat at several
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

32

locations. Interested parties and potential stakeholders
included Scenic Hotels, Ngāti Waewae and Westpower.
Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/westcoast/101669735/gloriavale-invests-in-geothermalalpine-fault-study

Other
Financing: Geothermal Energy
and Cryptocurrencies
Energy Demand Soar in Iceland for Bitcoins –Iceland is expected to use more energy mining bitcoins
and other virtual currencies this year than it uses topower its homes. With massive amounts of electricity
needed to run the computers that create the precious
bitcoins, large virtual currency mining companies haveestablished a base in Iceland, a chilly North Atlanticisland blessed with an abundance of renewable energy
from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.
The relatively sudden growth of the new industry has
prompted Smari McCarthy, a lawmaker for Iceland’s
Pirate Party, to suggest taxing the profits of bitcoin
mines. The initiative is likely to be well received by
Icelanders, who are skeptical of speculative financial
ventures after suffering a catastrophic banking crash in2008.
“Under normal circumstances, companies that are
creating value in Iceland pay a certain amount of tax tothe government,” McCarthy told. “These companies are
not doing that and we might want to ask ourselves
whether they should.”
The energy demand has increased because of thesoaring cost of producing virtual currencies. Computers
are used to make complex calculations that verify arunning ledger of all the transactions in virtual
currencies around the world. In return, the miners claim
a fraction of a coin not yet in circulation. In the case of
bitcoin, a total of 21 million can be mined, leaving about
4.2 million left to create. As more bitcoin entercirculation, computers need to get more powerful tokeep up with the calculations — and that means moreenergy.

Keflavik has over the past months boomed as aninternational hub for mining bitcoins and other virtual
currencies. That has spawned oversize construction sites
on the outskirts of town. Among the main attractions ofsetting up bitcoin mines in this city, is the natural
cooling for the computer servers and the competitive
prices for Iceland’s abundance of renewable energy.
At the largest of three bitcoin ‘farms’ currently operating
within Keflavik, high metal fences surround 50 meterlong warehouse buildings stacked with computer rigs.
The data centers here are specially designed to utilize
the constant wind on the bare peninsula. Walls are only
partial on each side, allowing a draft of cold air to cool
down the equipment.
Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, a business development
manager at the energy company Hitaveita Sudurnesja,
said he expected Iceland’s virtual currency mining todouble its energy consumption to about 100 megawatts
this year. That is more than households use on theisland nation of 340,000, according to Iceland’s National
Energy Authority.
Pirate Party legislator McCarthy has questioned thevalue of bitcoin mining for Icelandic society, saying
residents should consider regulating and taxing the
emerging industry. “We are spending tens or maybe
hundreds of megawatts on producing something thathas no tangible existence and no real use for humans
outside the realm of financial speculation,” he said.
“That can’t be good.”
Source:http://www.decaturdaily.com/news/other_news/international/new-gold-rush-energy-demands-soar-in-icelandfor-bitcoins/article_6205f432-ddd8-5fe7-af340bb215127bae.html
MoreElectricity
Demandfor
MiningCryptocurrencies? - Morgan Stanley analysts saidminers of Bitcoin could use as much as 140 terawatthours of electricity in 2018. That’s nearly 1 percent of
global demand and enough to seize the limelight fromelectric cars as the explosive new source of power
consumption. However, Credit Suisse Group dumped
cold water on the notion that Bitcoin would create‘uncontrolled growth’ in power demand. The bank’s

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

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

33
Credit Suisse urged caution forinvestors hoping to “benefit
significantly” from the growth inelectricity demand. While Bitcoinminers currently use about as muchelectricity as Ireland, they are “veryunlikely” to reach the “ultra-highend” threshold of 350 terawatthours a year --a level that would
amount to 1.4 percent of global
demand, according to the analysts,
andsimilarcon
Mexico’s
consumption last year.

analysts recalled overly bullish predictions about
demand from marijuana growers and data center
operators who later found ways to curb their electricity
use. Credit Suisse predicted a similar buzzkill for
cryptocurrencies.
“This is a far cry from the power and environmental
Armageddon that some have feared,” the analysts, led
by Michael Weinstein, wrote in the report.
The debate underscores how difficult it’s been to
project demand from a cryptocurrency craze that
already has utilities and renewable energy developers
worldwide marketing their supplies to the sector. When
Bitcoin skyrocketed in 2017, the electricity demandassociated with it climbed to about 20.5 terawatt-hours ayear, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy
Finance. Miners earn Bitcoin-denominated rewards for
performing complex, energy-intensive calculations
needed to confirm transactions in the cryptocurrency.
While higher prices have spurred more mining, it’s
impossible to know where the market is headed, said
Isabelle Edwards, a BNEF analyst. If prices remain
high, energy consumption will do the same. But theamount of electricity needed to mine Bitcoins could fall
if there are improvements in computing technology.
Meanwhile, if prices fall, it’s “almost inevitable thatsome miners will go out of business,” Edwards said.
Morgan Stanley cautioned that demand projections are“clearly not an exact science” but suggested that Bitcoin
mining could fuel the growth of renewable energy fromthe U.S. to China.
A Canadian utility has already voiced enthusiasm.
Hydro-Quebec has said it’s in “very advanced” talks
with miners about relocating to the province and that it
envisions the miners soaking up about five terawatthours of power annually --equivalent to about 300,000
Quebec homes-- from the surplus created by theregion’s hydroelectric dams.
www.geothermal-energy.org

At current Bitcoin and electricity
prices, power and fuel suppliers
may have as much as US$5 billion
in“globalannualrevenueopportunity.” That compares to the more than US$6
trillion of global energy expenditures each year.
“This is a small portion of global electric usage and an
even smaller portion of total global energy
expenditures,” the report said.
Source:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-0116/bitcoin-s-power-needs-may-be-overblown-recallingpot-growing

Financing: IRENA’s Report on
Generation Costs in 2017
On late January, the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) released their report Renewable
Power Generation Costs in 2017, which is acomprehensive cost report that highlights the latest
trends for each of the main renewable power
technologies, based on the latest cost and auction pricedata from projects around the world.
The IRENA Renewable Cost Database includes 15000
data points for levelized cost of energy (LCOE) fromprojects around the globe, representing over 1000
gigawats (GW) of power generation capacity. An
additional auctions database encompasses over 7,000
projects with nearly 300 GW of capacity.
The study finds that renewable power generation costs
continue to fall and are already very competitive to meetneeds for new capacity, and that global competition is
helping to spread the best project development
practices, reducing technology and project risk andmaking renewables more cost-competitive than everbefore.
In the case of geothermal energy, the report indicatesthat the weighted installed cost in 2017 was almost US$
3,000 per kilowatt, ranging between US$ 1,000 and
7,000, and that the LCOE was US$ 0.07 per kilowattApril-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

34hour, ranging since ~US$ 0.035 up to 0.14 (see attachedgraph). In all cases, values refer to 2016 US$.

“I was taken by surprise how expansive this warm
intrusion was.”

Source:http://irena.org/publications/2018/Jan/Renewablepower-generation-costs-in-2017

Such extreme warm intrusions in the Arctic, once rare,
are becoming more routine, research has shown. A
study published last July found that since 1980, these
events are becoming more
frequent,
longer-lasting
and more intense.
“Previously this was notcommon,”said
leadauthor of the study
Robert Graham, from theNorwegian Polar Institute,in an email. “It happened
in four years between
1980 and 2010, but has
now occurred in four outof the last five winters.”

Climate Change: North Pole
Surges above Freezing in the
Dead of WinterThe third weekend of last February an extraordinary andpossibly historic thaw swollen at the North Pole.
Analyses show that the temperature warmed to themelting point as an enormous storm pumped an intense
pulse of heat through the Greenland Sea.
Temperatures may have soared as high as 35 degrees
Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) at the pole, according to
the U.S. Global Forecast System model. While there are
no direct measurements of temperature there, Zack
Labe, a climate scientist working on his PhD at the
University of California at Irvine, confirmed that several
independent analyses showed “it was very close to
freezing,” which is more than 50 degrees (30 degrees
Celsius) above normal.
The warm intrusion penetrated right through the heartof the Central Arctic, Labe said. The temperature
averaged for the entire region north of 80 degrees
latitude spiked to its highest level ever recorded in
February. The average temperature was more than 36
degrees (20 degrees Celsius) above normal. “No otherwarm intrusions were very close to this,” Labe said in aninterview, describing a data set maintained by theDanish Meteorological Institute that dates back to 1958.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Graham explained thatthese warming events are
related to the decline of
winter sea ice in the
Arctic,notingthat
January’s ice extent was
the lowest on record. “As the sea ice is melting andthinning, it is becoming more vulnerable to these winterstorms,” he explained. “The thinner ice drifts more
quickly and can break up into smaller pieces. The strong
winds from the south can push the ice further north
into the Central Arctic, exposing the open water andreleasing heat to the atmosphere from the ocean.”
Scientists were shocked in recent days to discover open
water north of Greenland, an area normally covered byold, very thick ice. “This has me more worried than thewarm temps in the Arctic right now,” tweeted Mike
MacFerrin, an ice sheet specialist at the University ofColorado.
The rise in Arctic temperatures is probably also tied to asudden warming of the stratosphere, the atmosphericlayer about 30,000 feet high (~9,144 meters) —above
where most weather happens— that occurred several
weeks ago, Moore said. Why these stratosphericwarming events happen is poorly understood, as are
their consequences. However, they tend to rearrange
warm and cold air masses, and this latest one has also
been linked not only to the Arctic warmth but also to
the “Beast from the East” cold spell over Europe.
Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capitalweather-gang/wp/2018/02/26/north-pole-surgesabove-freezing-in-the-dead-of-winter-stunning-

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
scientists/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=digg&ut
m_term=.66e3ff23dd3c

35- 1.5°C is risky
The fingerprints of climate change are already visible onextreme weather events, sea level rise and related
impacts on ecosystems and human society. Each notchof warming brings more disruption.
At 1.5°C, tropical reefs are at “high risk” of no longer
being dominated by corals. The Arctic could becomenearly ice-free in September. There will be “fundamental
changes in ocean chemistry” that could take millennia toreverse.
- 2°C is riskier
The next half-degree ramps up the risk of flood,
drought, water scarcity and intense tropical storms.
There are knock-on effects: reduced crop yields, species
extinction and transmission of infectious diseases likemalaria. And these pressures multiply the threat ofhunger, migration and conflict.
An extra 10 cm of sea level rise is predicted this century
with 2°C compared to 1.5°C. It also raises the risk ofGreenland and West Antarctic ice sheets collapsing overthe long term, dooming future generations to multimeter sea level rise.
- Poor and coastal communities will be hit hardest

GFS model analysis of temperatures (inCelsius) on 25th February over the Arctic.
(University of Maine Climate Re-analyzer;
taken from the source).

Climate Change: Main
Takeaways from the Draft
IPCC Next Report

Vulnerable communities are already experiencing threats
from climate change. At both 1.5°C and 2°C theseeffects scale up.
- “Rapid and deep” emissions cuts are needed, andnegative emissions… and luck
Meeting the 1.5°C goal is a huge ask. It implies cutting
greenhouse gases faster than ever before across all
sectors of the economy.

Under the Paris Agreement, governments worldwide (excepting theU.S.) agreed to hold global warming “well below 2°C” and toaim for 1.5°C. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) agreed to produce a special report on the 1.5°C threshold,summarizing all the available evidence.

At the same time, carbon dioxide needs to be suckedout of the atmosphere. Depending on the scenario, 3801130 gigatons of CO2 should be removed. The more
emissions cuts are delayed, the more rests on negativeemissions technology, which could be problematic.

The website Climate Home News has obtained an earlyversion of the five-chapter report, which is due to be finalized in
September 2018. The IPCC stressed it was a work in progressand may change substantially, and it is open for review by experts
and governments. What is clear from the content so far, though, isthere is not much time left. Here are some of the main takeaways.

Scenarios that give a 66% chance of holding
temperature rise below 1.5°C throughout this century
are “already out of reach”, according to the draft
summary. That leaves a narrow path to walk to staywithin the 1.5°C threshold, or the prospect ofovershooting and using negative emissions to restore
the balance by 2100.

- We’re close to the line
The world has already warmed 1°C since pre-industrial
times. At the current rate, we will pass 1.5°C in the2040s. This is based on a 30-year average global
temperature, centered on the year in question, compared
to 1850-1900. Parts of the world, for shorter periods oftime, are almost certain to exceed 1.5°C warming sooner
than 2040.
www.geothermal-energy.org- Radical action has trade-offs
Scaling up negative emissions in line with the 1.5°C goal
may clash with efforts to end hunger. “There is a highchance that the levels of CO2 removal implied in the
scenarios might not be feasible due the required scaleand speed of deployment required and trade-offs withsustainable development objectives,” the draft states.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

36- Beware techno-fixes
The draft takes a skeptical line on solar geoengineering,a prospective technology to cool the planet by reflecting
heat into space. Ethical implications, governance issues
and public resistance could make it “economically,socially and institutionally infeasible”.
- Prepare for social change
As much as any technology, 1.5°C depends on peoplechanging their behavior. That means the rich eating lessmeat, using energy sparingly and forgoing private cars.
And it means tackling institutional barriers to action likepublic attitudes, lack of resources or special interests.
Source:http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/02/13/11takeaways-draft-un-report-1-5c-global-warming-limit/

Climate Change: New NASASpace Sensors to Address Key
Earth Science Questions

This 2011 composite satellite image shows the
expanse of Arctic sea ice (center) and theGreenland Ice Sheet (lower right). Credit: NASAWhy is the Arctic warming faster than the rest of theplanet? Does mineral dust warm or cool theatmosphere? NASA has selected two new, creative
research proposals to develop small, space-based
instruments that will tackle these fundamental questions
about our home planet and its environment.

The composition of airborne dust particles is largely
unknown, but it is a critical factor in determining
whether mineral-based dust has a cooling or warming
effect on the atmosphere. Scientists do not currently
have a global inventory of the natural mineral sources ofdust, and as a result the global impacts of dust on
weather, atmospheric circulation, and other aspects ofEarth’s environment are not well established.

The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared
Experiment (PREFIRE) will fly a pair of small CubeSat
satellites to probe a little-studied portion of the radiantenergy emitted by Earth for clues about Arctic warming,
sea ice loss, and ice-sheet melting. Tristan L’Ecuyuer of
the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the principal
investigator.

EMIT’s hyperspectral instrument will measure thedifferent wavelengths of light emitted by minerals on
the surface of deserts and other dust sources todetermine their composition. The EMIT sensor is basedin part on NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper
instrument aboard the Indian Space Research
Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.

The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation(EMIT) will use a sensor mounted to the exterior of theInternational Space Station to determine the mineralcomposition of natural sources that produce dust
aerosols around the world. By measuring in detail whichminerals make up the dust, EMIT will help to answer
the essential question of whether this type of aerosol
warms or cools the atmosphere. Robert Green ofNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena,
California, is the principal investigator.

Source: NASA News Releases, February 05, 2018,
RELEASE 18-006

The Arctic helps to regulate Earth’s overall temperatureby radiating back into space much of the excess energy
from the Sun that is absorbed at lower latitudes. Current
satellite instruments do not detect all of the wavelengthsof this energy radiating from our planet. PREFIRE will
fill in the current data gap at far-infrared wavelengths,
collecting information that will help scientists diagnose
the impact of this outgoing radiation on the Arctic
region’s energy balance.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Climate Change: Jakarta Is
Sinking Fast
With climate change, the Java Sea is rising and weather
is becoming more extreme. In early December 2017
another freakish storm briefly turned Jakarta’s streets
into rivers and brought this vast area of nearly 30
million residents to a virtual halt.
One local climate researcher, Irvan Pulungan, an adviser
to the city’s governor, fears that temperatures may riseseveral degrees Fahrenheit, and the sea level as much as
three feet in the region, over the coming century.
But global warming in not turned out not to be the only
culprit behind the historic floods that overran much of
the rest of Jakarta in 2007. The problem, it turned out,
was that the city itself is sinking. In fact, Jakarta is
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

37

friendly ‘green’ fracking
fluid,
calledStimuFrac™.
Rather
than
using
large
volumes of water andan immense amount ofpressure to create
fractures underground,
this green fracking fluid
relies on a safe chemical
process to do the hardwork.
The process is achemical reaction that
occurswhen
poly(allylamine) and carbon
dioxide(CO2) arecombined. CO2 is
Subsidence in Jakarta. Red dots: more than 5 cm/year, yellow dots: less than that.
added to the green(Figure by The New York Times, taken from the source. Subsidence data courtesy offracking fluid and then
Irwan Gumilar of Geodesy Research Group of ITB. Satellite images via Landsat 5 andreacts with the poly
Landsat 8)(allylamine) expandingin volume and creating
sinking faster than any other big city on the planet,pressure in addition to what already occurs during
faster, even, than climate change is causing the sea toconventional hydraulic fracturing.
rise —so surreally fast that rivers sometimes flow
upstream,ordinaryrains
regularly
swamp
Not only could PNNL’s StimuFrac™ use significantly
neighborhoods and buildings slowly disappear
less water compared to conventional hydraulicunderground, swallowed by the earth. The main cause:
fracturing methods —making it more environmentallyillegal wells that have been draining the undergroundfriendly— it is expected to also significantly reduces
aquifers on which the city rests —like deflating a giant
costs. The additional pressure created when usingcushion underneath it. About 40 percent of Jakarta now
PNNL’s fluid means less mechanical pressure islies below sea level.
required, potentially less water is used, and fracturing
can be done more quickly. All of these factors
Climate change acts here as it does elsewhere,combined could reduce operating costs by 60 percent
exacerbating scores of other ills. Hydrologists say thewhile increasing permeability up to 10,000 times
city has only a decade to halt its sinking. If it can’t,
compared to conventional fracturing methods.
northern Jakarta, with its millions of residents, will end
up underwater, along with much of the nation’s
StimuFrac™ was proven in the laboratory, but PNNL
economy. Eventually, barring wholesale change and an
scientists wanted to see their technology in action. Moreinfrastructural revolution, Jakarta won’t be able to build
specifically, they wanted to know if this technology
walls high enough to hold back the rivers, canals and thewould work anywhere, not just in the controlled spaces
rising Java Sea.
of their laboratory. They tested the fluid under manydifferent chemical and geomechanical conditions withAnd even then, of course, if it does manage to heal its
different pressures, temperatures, and pH environments.
self-inflicted wounds, it still has to cope with all the
StimuFrac™ consistently outperformed conventional
mounting threats from climate change.
methods and even worked under a range of 3-10 pH,
Source:confirming the feasibility of the fluid at various
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/21/wolocations worldwide.
rld/asia/jakarta-sinkingPNNL scientist, Varun Gupta explains, “PNNL’s
climate.html?utm_source=digg&utm_medium=email
StimuFracTM has outperformed conventional fracking
fluids; however, all the different mechanisms
Technology: ‘Green’ Fracking
responsible for its efficiency are yet to be understood.
The research team also thinks that in addition to the
Fluid Developed by the PNNL
overpressure generated by StimuFrac™, it has lower
Scientists at U.S. PNNL (Pacific Northwest National
critical pore invasion pressure that provides further
Laboratory), Washington, developed an environmentallyadvantage over conventional fracking fluids.”
www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Not only could the fluid be used in EGS applications,but it can also be used in the oil and gas industry.
PNNL scientist Carlos Fernández says “Though we
initially designed the fluid for geothermal energy, it
could also make unconventional oil and gas recovery
more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.”38
basically two: the silica geothermometer and the isotopic
ratio of Helium. Direct methods are physicalmeasurements of thermal gradient and thermal
conductivity, which are correlated in the Fourier
equation f = K dt/dz, where K is thermal conductivity, t
is temperature and z is depth. So, dt/dz is the thermal
gradient, which expresses the variation of temperature
with depth.
Thermal gradient in the shallow subsurface is heavily
disturbed by solar and atmospheric heating cycles, soboreholes 100 m deep or more are usually required toobtain ‘undisturbed’ gradient values. Thermal
conductivity over the same interval is best measured oncore samples in a laboratory, another relatively
expensive exercise. In the latter stages of geothermal
exploration, more than a million dollars might be spent
to drill a small handful of gradient or heat flow wells, as
an intermediate step to justify deep appraisal drilling.
But conductive heat flow is otherwise ignored as a tool.

Source:https://energyenvironment.pnnl.gov/highlights/highlig
ht.asp?id=2912

Technology: Creating
Geothermal Heat Flow Maps
with Heat Needles
Several years ago, the Australian company Hot Dry
Rocks (HDR) reported on its development of a heatneedle appliance. Now, Graeme Beardsmore, Technical
Director of HDR, has announced in his LinkedIn pagethat after more than 10 years of R&D on the appliance,
the tool has now been successfully introduced.
Surface heat flow data provide the most direct evidenceof subsurface heat of any geophysical technique.
Historically, though, surface heat flow has failed as aroutine geothermal exploration method because of theprohibitive cost of obtaining targeted data in areas ofreal interest. Furthermore, heat flow in hydrothermally
active regions (volcanoes, extensional zones, etc.) canvary greatly over short distances, so interpolating heatflow between widely spaced data points can very easily
miss prospective targets.
Surface heat flow maps at ‘prospect’ scale would be
incredibly value for geothermal exploration. But
collecting new heat flow data is expensive. Heat flow
data can be obtained by indirect or direct methods.
Indirect methods use geochemical equations and are
www.geothermal-energy.org

Thus, producing a surface heat flow map over an entire
geothermal prospect for less than the cost of a single
heat flow well would be a breakthrough advance in
geothermal exploration. After 10 years of R&D,
Graeme Beardsmore says his company Hot Dry Rocks
has demonstrated a tool that can do just that. They callit the Heat Needle.
The method works by placing a one meter long rod into
the ground with an off-the-shelf electric drill, and insert
a set of highly sensitive and accurate thermal sensors.
These sensors passively record the temperature in the
top meter of the ground four times each hour forseveral months. When processed in the frequency
domain, these records of ground temperature indicate
the thermal diffusivity of the ground to a precision of~±1%. The method also correlates the site-specificrecords of surface temperature against more diffuse but
long-term satellite-derived records of surface
temperature. That allows extend the surface temperaturerecord many years into the past.
The next step is to forward model the diffusion of thehistorical surface temperature signal into the ground,using the value of thermal diffusivity in the site. The
processing ends up with a prediction of the near-surface
temperature disturbance due to solar and atmosphericcauses. Subtracting that predicted disturbance from theground temperature observations reveals the subtle, butconstant, subsurface thermal gradient.
The final piece in the puzzle is that the Heat Needle also
contains an active heating coil that allows to conduct anin situ thermal conductivity test. Multiplying the inferred
thermal gradient by the measured thermal conductivity
results in a surface heat flow value. Experience to datesuggests an accuracy on the order of ±0.05 W/m2 (±50mW/m2).
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

39

Technology:
Geothermal Lab
at 1500 Meters
Underground

Reduced subsurface temperatures at 50 cm (blue), 70 cm (red), 90 cm (green) and
110 cm (purple) depth after removing the surface temperature signal. A clear
gradient of about 1.9°C/m is defined after an initial equilibration period. The Heat
Needle is sensitive to much lower gradients than this (Graph by G. Beardsmore,taken from the source).
The Heat Needle is ready for pilot deployments.
Depending on the location, up to 15 units might beconcurrently deployed across a region for three months
to achieve geothermal exploration goals such as:- Quantify the total natural thermal recharge of
geothermal systems (when added to convective loss
from springs, fumaroles and steaming ground)- Delineate the boundaries of geothermal systems- Discover ‘blind’ geothermal systems (could beparticularly useful in extensional settings)- Trace outflow fluid conduits back to their ‘source’(understand the plumbing)- Rule out inappropriate ‘gradient well’ locations- Determine whether a resistivity anomaly coincides
with a thermal anomaly (discriminate between currentand ‘fossilized’ clay caps)- Locate ‘upflow’ zones, even though they may be
several kilometers from surface manifestations
The ability to produce new conductive heat flow data
and maps precise enough to characterize the thermalfeatures of geothermal reservoirs at typical depths of 1-2
km, using a relatively cheap and portable surface
instrument, represents a significant advancement for
geothermal exploration.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/creatinggeothermal-heat-flow-maps-at-prospect-scale-with-heatneedle-appliance/

www.geothermal-energy.org

The collaborative Enhanced
Geothermal Systems project,
or EGS Collab, is funded by
the U.S. DOE’s GeothermalTechnologies Office, and led
by Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory (LBNL). It is a
US$9 million multi-lab project
designed to perform field
experiments and numericalsimulations to understand thecreation of fracture networks
and fluid flow through those
networks deep underground.

Some locations such as active
volcano centers or areas with
very
high
temperature
gradients, are not typicallyconducive to conventional geothermal energy
production. Scientists need to have a keen
understanding of subsurface fractures and fluid flow —key elements for producing geothermal systems —atthese locations. They also need to better understandhow to enhance permeability—the ease at which fluid
flows through subsurface rock.
The EGS Collab, a three-year project that began in early
2017, is working to gain this understanding, using the
Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead,South Dakota, as its underground laboratory. The SURF
—considered the deepest underground laboratory in the
United States— is formerly a gold mine with
infrastructure that can transport a collection ofresearchers 5000 feet (~1500 meters) underground.
Temperatures within the SURF’s subsurface are 100
degrees Fahrenheit (38°C) —elevated enough to react tothe injection of cold water.
Here, the collaborative team —which includes PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PPNL)— is working
to enhance useful permeability in crystalline rock by
stimulating hydraulic and natural fractures that will allow
them to study fluid flow through those networks.
With its national lab partners, PNNL has lent modelingexpertise to the effort. Ahead of experiments scheduled
for this spring, the entire EGS Collab modeling andsimulation working team identified and quantified thenature of planned experimental work, such as hydraulicfracturing and stress alteration due to thermal cooling.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

40
Other national labs besides Lawrence Berkeley and
PNNL involved with the EGS Collab are Sandia,
Lawrence Livermore, Idaho, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge,
and National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Source:https://energyenvironment.pnnl.gov/highlights/highlig
ht.asp?id=2953

Science: Team Mapped
Temperature and Viscosity ofEarth’s Lower Crust inWestern U.S.
Members of the team studied rock surfaces within
the SURF prior to selecting where to drill boreholes(Photo credit: PNNL)
The modeling considered aspects such as preferredorientation of boreholes most compatible with the rock
structure and the potential number and magnitude ofseismic events associated with hydraulic simulation.
“We encountered a lot of unknowns at the start of themodeling effort, especially with temperature,” said
PNNL’s Mark White. “We didn’t immediately foresee
the thermal conditions within the experimental volume.
For example, over the life of the mine, cold air blown infor ventilation has changed the temperatures from a
uniform state in the rock to a gradient from the drift
wall into the mine.”
The research team also worked to design and prepare
the subsurface test bed. They performed core logging tounderstand the geology of the crystalline rock andidentify natural fractures. They drilled a series of eight 4inch outside diameter boreholes —which typically takes
one week per borehole— that will be equipped withelectrodes and monitoring equipment to ultimately glean
the experimental data. The network of fractures will becreated between sets of boreholes, where themonitoring equipment within the boreholes can shedlight on fracturing and fluid flow at such sites.
The research team sees this point in the EGS Collab asa time to learn. Characterization data from theboreholes have been collected, and now the numericalsimulators can re-simulate knowing there is variability inthe stress state of the rock to make a more accurate
prediction of what the experiments will look like.
The knowledge gained from these experiments will
provide needed data to the Frontier Observatory for
Research in Geothermal Energy Project (FORGE),
which is tasked with developing technologies to harness
and use this energy source.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Everything on the surface of the Earth rests on massive
tectonic plates that resemble a jelly sandwich, with two
rigid pieces --the upper crust and the upper mantle-enclosing a gooey middle layer of very hot rocks, whichis the lower crust. The plates move ever so slowly
around the globe over a deeper hot layer called theasthenosphere.
Temperature plays a fundamental role in determining
the strength, thickness, and buoyancy of the lower crust.
A research team led by the U.S. Colorado State
University has mapped the temperature and viscosity of
the lower crust for the first time and found that, undermuch of the western United States, the layer is hot
enough to be near its initial melting point and, therefore,quite runny.
This new research shows that significant regions of thelower crust have little strength, and that over several
million years, could lead to many mountains in thewestern U.S. being flattened.
Scientists generally think of tectonic plates, or
lithosphere, as being made up of the crust and a cold
uppermost mantle. But in this new analysis, the teamsaw something akin to ball bearings slipping between
the crust and mantle. While not unexpected, this study
was able to map the extent of the areas resembling ballbearings.
“The ‘ball bearings’ keep separate what’s happening in
the mantle from what’s happening in the crust,” said
Derek Schutt, associate professor in CSU’s Departmentof Geosciences.
Researchers calculated temperatures at the bottom of
the crust, which varies in thickness, by measuring thevelocity of seismic waves that travel near the interface
between the lower crust and uppermost mantle.
In the western U.S., the crust is very hot, which is whatmakes it so weak.
“We know in general that the lower crust in the western
United States seems hot,” said Schutt. “But this is theApril-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

41

first time we’ve been able to really ascribe a temperature
to a specific location.”

earthquakes, providing a convenient baseline for testingalternative measurement systems.

Source:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/1801
17135133.htm

Traditional earthquake sensors rely on two types ofseismic waves, called P waves and S waves, to determine
where an earthquake occurred. The farther away theearthquake is, the greater the distance is between thearrivals of these two wave types, which travel at
different speeds. Here Caudron et al. used a novel
method called seismic amplitude ratio analysis (SARA)
to track the melting rock’s underground path.

Moho temperature at depths varying from 20 to 50
km. Credit: Colorado State University

Science: A Novel Way to Track
Magma Flow
Following is a reproduction of the blog published by Emily
Underwood on 21 February 2018, and hosted by EOS.org,
which presents a novel technique that can accurately predict
volcanic eruptions using sparse seismic data.
In August 2014, after traveling for weeks throughsubterranean channels, molten rock surged throughcracks in the 84-square-kilometer Holuhraun lava fieldnorth of Iceland’s most voluminous glacier. It was thelargest volcanic eruption in Europe in 230 years and wasrecorded in detail by a dense network of seismic sensors
deployed by the University of Cambridge to monitor
volcanic activity in the area. Now, a new study showsthat scientists can accurately track underground lava
flow with far fewer sensors, a boon in regions withscarce seismic data.
In the 2-week period leading up to the eruption, magmasnaked its way through fissures in the rock, forming amoving structure called a dike. From the tip of one dikerippled migrating swarms of more than 30,000
earthquakes. The dense network of more than 70
traditional seismic monitoring stations recorded the
www.geothermal-energy.org

In contrast to traditional methods, SARA requires only
the background amplitude of seismic waves to locate
where an earthquake originates. Although previous
studies have shown that the method can complement
the traditional approach and reveal the path of travelingmagma, it has never been directly compared with such ahigh-resolution set of traditional sensors. Using just 15
stations, the team was able to track the magma’s
trajectory with remarkable accuracy, they report. The
SARA technique also revealed new dynamics in themagma’s flow. The technique could help scientists track
volcanic activity in settings where there aren’t many
monitoring stations, the team says. (Journal ofGeophysicalResearch:
Solid
Earth,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014660, 2018)
Source: https://eos.org/research-spotlights/a-novelway-to-track-magma-flow

Science: Scientists Find
Seismic Imaging Is Blind to
Water
When an earthquake strikes, nearby seismometers pickup its vibrations in the form of seismic waves. In
addition to revealing the epicenter of a quake, seismic
waves can give scientists a way to map the interior
structures of the Earth, much like a CT scan images thebody.
By measuring the velocity at which seismic waves travelat various depths, scientists can determine the types ofrocks and other materials that lie beneath the Earth’s
surface. The accuracy of such seismic maps depends onscientists’ understanding of how various materials affectseismic waves’ speeds.
Now researchers at Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) and the Australian National
University have found that seismic waves are essentiallyblind to a very common substance found throughout
the Earth’s interior: water.
Their findings, published in March 2018 in the journal
Nature, go against a general assumption that seismic
imaging can pick up signs of water deep within the
Earth’s upper mantle. In fact, the team found that even
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
trace amounts of water have no effect on the speed atwhich seismic waves travel.
The process of melting at tens of kilometers below thesurface removes tiny amounts of water that are found inrocks at greater depth. Scientists have thought thatseismic images showed this ‘wet-dry’ transition,corresponding to the transition from rigid tectonic
plates to deformable mantle beneath. However, theteam’s findings suggest that seismic imaging may bepicking up signs of not water, but rather, melt —tiny
pockets of molten rock.
The team is leaded by Christopher Cline, along with
Emmanuel David, Andrew Berry, and Ian Jackson, of
the Australian National University, and by Ulrich Faul,of the MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, andPlanetary Sciences.
To measure the extent to which water affects seismic
wave speeds, the team produced different samples ofolivine. They trapped various amounts of water withineach sample, and then placed the samples one at a timein a machine engineered to slowly twist a rock, in a
furnace at high pressures and temperatures, in order tosimulate conditions deep within the Earth.
“This simulates propagation of seismic waves throughthe Earth. The magnitude of this strain is similar to thewidth of a thin human hair —not very easy to measure
at a pressure of 2,000 times atmospheric pressure and atemperature that approaches the melting temperature ofsteel”, said Faul.
The team
expected to find acorrelation
between theamount of waterin a given sample
and the speed atwhich seismic
waves would
propagate
through thatsample. When theinitial samples did
not show theanticipatedbehavior, theresearchers
modified thecomposition andmeasured again,
but they kept
getting the samenegative result.
Eventually it
became42
inescapable that the original hypothesis was incorrect.
Another unexpected outcome of the experiments wasthat seismic wave velocity appeared to depend on a
rock’s oxidation state. All rocks on Earth contain certain
amounts of iron, at various states of oxidation, just as
metallic iron on a car can rust when exposed to a certain
amount of oxygen. The researchers found, almost
unintentionally, that the oxidation of iron in olivine
affects the way seismic waves travel through the rock.
Faul says that the group’s findings suggest that seismic
waves may be used to map levels of oxidation, such as
at subduction zones — regions in the Earth where
oceanic plates sink down into the mantle.
“An underlying question is what lubricates tectonic
plates on Earth,” Faul says. “Our work points toward
the importance of small amounts of melt at the base of
tectonic plates, rather then a wet mantle beneath dry
plates. Overall these results may help to illuminate
volatile cycling between the interior and the surface of
the Earth.”
Source: http://news.mit.edu/2018/scientists-findseismic-imaging-blind-water-0314?

Geothermal & Life: Deep-Sea
Fish Use Hydrothermal Vents
to Incubate Eggs

Eggs of deep-sea skates have been discovered near the hottest type of hydrothermal vents,
where super-heated water emerges out of the sea floor. These vents, called black smokers, emit
dark, sulfurous plumes. (Photo credit: Ocean Exploration Trust)

www.geothermal-energy.org

April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111
Some deep-sea skates —cartilaginous fish related to raysand sharks— use volcanic heat emitted at hydrothermal
vents to incubate their eggs, according to a new study inthe journal Scientific Reports. Because deep-sea skates
have some of the longest egg incubation times,
estimated to last more than four years, the researchers
believe the fish are using the hot vents to accelerate
embryo development. This is the first time such
behavior has been seen in marine animals.
“Hydrothermal vents are extreme environments, andmost animals that live there are highly evolved to live inthis environment,” said Charles Fisher, Professor andDistinguished Senior Scholar of Biology at Penn Stateand an author of the paper. “This study is one of the
few that demonstrates a direct link between the ventenvironment and animals that live most of their life
elsewhere.”Among the least explored and unique ecosystems, deepsea hydrothermal fields are regions on the sea floor
where hot water emerges after being heated in the ocean
crust. In their study, an international team ofresearchers, led by Pelayo Salinas-de-León of theCharles Darwin Research Station, used a remotely
operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to survey in andaround an active hydrothermal field located in the
Galapagos archipelago, 28 miles north of Darwin Island.
The researchers found 157 egg cases in the area andcollected four with the ROV’s robotic arm. DNA
analysis revealed that the egg cases belonged to the skate
species Bathyraja spinosissima, one of the deepest-living
species of skates that is not typically thought to occur
near the vents. The majority —58 percent— of theobserved egg cases were found within about 65 feet ofthe chimney-like black smokers, the hottest kind ofhydrothermal vents, and over 89 percent had been laidin places where the water was hotter than average. The
researchers believe that the warmer temperatures in thearea could reduce the typically years-long incubation
time of the eggs.
While several species of reptiles and birds lay their eggs
in locations that optimize soil temperatures, only twoother groups of animals are known to use volcanicallyheated soils: the modern-day Polynesian megapode —arare bird native to Tonga— and a group of nestbuilding neosauropod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous
Period.
“The deep sea is full of surprises,” said Fisher. “I’ve
made hundreds of dives, both in person and virtually, todeep sea hydrothermal vents and have never seen
anything like this.”
Source:https://sciencebulletin.org/archives/20248.html
www.geothermal-energy.org

43

IGA News
IGA News is published quarterly by the International
Geothermal Association. IGA News disseminates
timely information about geothermal activities
throughout the world. To this end, a group of
correspondents has agreed to supply news for eachissue. The core of this group consists of the IGA
Information Committee:
Peter Meier, Switzerland (Chairman)
Rolf Bracke, Germany
Varun Chandrasekhar, India
Albert Genter, France
Lúdvík S. Georgsson, Iceland
Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, México
Susan F. Hodgson, USA
Herman Darnel Ibrahim, Indonesia
Liu Jirong, China
Kristín Vala Matthíasdóttir, Iceland
Georgina Izquierdo-Montalvo, Mexico
Marcelo J. Lippmann, USA
Diego Morata, Chile
Fernando S. Peñarroyo, Philippines
Horst Rüter, Germany
Ka Noel Salonga, Philippines
Marietta Sander, Germany
Surya Darma, Indonesia
Massimo Verdoya, Italy
Shigeto Yamada, Japan
Meseret T. Zemedkun, Ethiopía
The members of this group submit geothermal news
from their parts of the world, or their areas of
specialization. If you have some news, a report, or anarticle for IGA News, you can send it to any of theabove individuals, the Editor or directly to the IGA
Secretariat. Please help us to become essential
reading for anyone seeking the latest information on
geothermal worldwide.
While the editorial team makes every effort to ensure
accuracy, the opinions expressed in contributed
articles remain those of the authors and are notnecessarily those of the IGA. The editorial team does
not assume any liability for external content takenfrom public sources and websites, or endorse theproducts or services mentioned.
Send IGA News contributions to the editor(l.g.negrin@gmail.com) and/or:International Geothermal Association (IGA)
c/o Bochum University of Applied Sciences,E-mail: iga@hs-bochum.de
This issue of IGA News was edited by Luis C.A.
Gutiérrez-Negrín. Marit Brommer proofread thearticles. Distributed by the IGA Secretariat. Design
layout by François Vuataz.
April-June 2018

IGA News No. 111

Application for membership
Please complete the following form and return it withpayment to:International Geothermal Association (IGA)
c/o Bochum University of Applied Sciences
Lennershofstr. 140, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)234 32 10712; Fax: +49 (0)234 3214809
E-mail: iga@hs-bochum.de
IGA Home Page: www.geothermal-energy.org
Membership❒ Enrol me as a new member of IGA❒ Renew my membership to IGA
Dr Mr Mrs Ms (circle)
Family name ____________________________________First name ______________________________________
Profession ______________________________________
Organization ____________________________________
Address  Work  Home______________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone (area code) _________________________________Fax (area code) ___________________________________
E-mail __________________________________________
Note: The information you provide will be held on the IGA
database. It will be used to update you on the activities of the
Association, and may be changed or cancelled at any timeupon your request. It will be included in the IGA Directory,
which may be circulated in printed or electronic form to IGA
members only. If you do not wish your details to be used forthis purpose, please tick the box (in which case your name will
not be printed in the IGA Directory) Membership category
 Individual – USD 40
 Student – USD 10
 Corporate – USD 500
 Institutional – USD 500
 Sustaining: individual – USD 100
 Sustaining: corporate – USD 1000
Representatives of Corporate and Institutional members:
Contact person _________________________________
Second person __________________________________
Third person ___________________________________
Payment
There are three ways to make payment to IGA:
1. Credit card
 Master Card American Express
 VisaCard # __________________________________________
Expiration date ___________________________________
Signature ________________________________________

www.geothermal-energy.org

44
Date of signature _________________________________
2. Bank draft.
3. International Wire Transfer in USD to the International
Geothermal Association
Please notify the Secretariat by fax or e-mail when you wirefunds.
Bank: Helaba
Address: Friedrichstr. 74
40217 Duesseldorf, Germany
Account # 1007100413
SWIFT: WELADEDD
IBAN: DE77 3005 0000 1007 1004 13
2016 dues USD ___________________________________
2017 dues USD ___________________________________
2018 dues USD ___________________________________
Contribution USD ________________________________TOTAL USD ____________________________________
These financial data will not be stored on a database, and will
not be recorded in any electronic form.
Rates for advertising in IGA NewsSpace/Format
Size mm
Number of Issues
1
4 (per issue)
Full Page
185 x 245 USD 450
USD 350
Half Page
185 x 120 USD 310
USD 215(horizontal)
Half Page
90 x 245
USD 310
USD 215(vertical)
Quarter Page
120 x 90
USD 195
USD 155(horizontal)
Quarter Page
90 x 120
USD 195
USD 155(vertical)
REDUCED SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR Geothermics
Elsvier is pleased to offer members of the IGA a preferential
subscription rate to the journal Geothermics. It is published six
times a year, with a normal institutional suscription rate of
USD 2,085 per year (printed version), or USD 1,042.80 per
year (eJournal) (2016 prices).
IGA members, are eligible for a special yearly rate of USD
285. If you want the special rate, please contact
JournalsCustomerServiceEMEA@elsevier.com. Upon request,
they will send a proforma invoice to your e-mail ID. You canmake your payment via bank transfer, fax your card details orcall them with the information provided in your invoice.
Elsevier (https://www.elsevier.com/) provides web-based,
digital solutions —among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier
Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey— and publishes over 2,000
journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 33,000
book titles. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading
provider of information and analytics for professional andbusiness customers across industries.

April-June 2018