IGA NEWS
Newsletter of the International Geothermal Association
Quarterly No. 109

IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the Executive
Director
Greetings to all members of the IGA and to those thatare reading this newsletter. As mentioned in ourprevious writing, the IGA Board has developed a new
strategy which will help us to strengthen the role of ourmembers and the wider geothermal energy community
not only for our sector, but also in the wider context ofthe ongoing renewable energy and climate change
debate.
The IGA has been very busy over the past months toinitiate strategic activities aligned with our four Pillars:
Visibility,
Authority,
Independence
andMembership. In this newsletter I focus on Pillar
Visibility: it is with great pride that I can show you our
new logo and visual identity for the IGA (see the rightupper part of this page). We thank Team Visibility(Andy Blair, Jane Brotheridge, Kristin Vala
Matthiasdottir, and Bjarni Bjarnasson) for their great
work and support. The designer, Hvita Husid, has done
a fantastic job and we are all keen to take our new visual
identity further and re-design our website before thenext Board Meeting in Santiago, Chile (27-29 November2017). To increase our online visibility we have adopted#lovegeothermal, initiated a few social media campaigns(see photo 1) to express our love for geothermal, andonce completed our new website will be hosted under
www.lovegeothermal.org. To raise our profile andincrease our offline Visibility, we have had a busy
summer with attending many events. In August, ourpresident Alex Richter attended the 5th IndonesianGeothermal Convention in Djakarta and the IRENA
workshop in El Salvador: “IRENA is our valued partner
to raise the Geothermal flag in the Renewable Energy
scene and I am grateful to be invited, as President of the
IGA, to promote IGA at these important fora”.
In September, I was invited to be a panelist in the
Economic Forum in Poland together with Board
Member Beata Kepinska (see photo 2) and present ourviews on Geothermal Energy in Eastern European
countries. Luis Gutiérrez-Negrín represented IGA at the
MEXIREC event in Mexico (see separate note).
Together with the President and Secretary of the IGA(Bruno Della Vedova) I attended the Global
Geothermal Alliance meeting in Florence, organized bywww.geothermal-energy.org

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CONTENTS
IGA ACTIVITIES
Message from the Executive Director... 1
41st GRC Annual Meeting… 2
2nd Annual General Assembly of GEMex Project… 3
MEXIREC 2017 and REN21 SC Meeting… 5

AFRICA
Djibouti: Kuwaiti Grant for Geothermal Program… 7
Ethiopia: Japanese Grant, and Geothermal Projects … 7
Kenya: Several Geothermal Notes… 9
Tanzania: CIF to Fund the Ngozi Project: … 11

AMERICAS
Chile: Two Notes… 12 &13
Costa Rica: Miravalles Renamed, Loan at Risk… 14
Ecuador: Exploration at the Chachimbiro Project … 15
Honduras: First Geothermal Plant in Operation… 15
Latin America: 8 Projects to Be Granted by GDF… 16
Mexico: Old Well Flows & Portable Plant… 17
United States: Several Notes… 18

ASIA / PACIFIC RIM
China: New Geothermal Fields, & HDR Project… 24
UAE: First Geothermal Exploration Survey… 24
Indonesia: Sarulla Project & Other News… 25
Philippines: Geothermal Regulations & EDC… 27
Taiwan: New Feed-in Tariff for Renewables… 29

EUROPE
Press Release: Efforts to Strengthen Geothermal… 29
France-Germany: Soultz-sous-Forêts Reloaded… 30
Germany: New Power Plant, & Workshop… 31
Hungary: Turawell Project, Completed… 32
Iceland: Blue Lagoon, Theistareykir & Other… 32
The Netherlands: ‘Ultra-deep’ Project in Almere... 34
Turkey: Direct Uses, Investments, & Kizildere III… 35
UK: Lithium in Cornwall, & Projects in Scotland … 36

OCEANIANew Zealand: Three Notes … 37

OTHER
Global: The ‘Florence Declaration’… 38
Climate Change: The East African Paradox… 39
Climate Change: Dying Gods in Kenya… 40
Climate Change: Risk on US’ Crop Yields by 2050… 41
Clean Energy: 100% Renewable Countries… 42
Science: Zealandia and Old Tectonic Plates… 43 & 44
Finances & Book Review…45 & 47
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IGA News No. 109

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IRENA (see photo 3). Margaret gave the openings
speech at the GeoHeat conference in Kamchatka(Russia), and Karolina and Gregor attended the EAGE
event in Malmö (Sweden) where both of them heldinterviews with key geothermal speakers (see photo 4)
which will be channeled online. In Munich Karolina andme attended the German Geothermal Conference,
where we launched our beautiful calendar 2018 showing
the winning photos of our IGA photo competition: our
12 reasons to #lovegeothermal.
The coming months will be intensive as well, as we will
be completing the redesign of our website, gradually
starting to implement new technology for membershipmanagement, and preparing the BoD meeting in
Santiago, Chile. From a strategy perspective we will befocusing on Pillar Independence, in which governanceand finances will play a key role. In November we will
be present during COP23 in Bonn, Germany, at several
side events featuring our new slogan ‘cool the Earth –stay hot with Geothermal’. I wish you happy reading
and do not hesitate to connect with me and share yourreasons to love geothermal.
Dr. Marit Brommer, Executive Director, IGA –marit.brommer@hs-bochum.de

41st GRC Annual Meeting
Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, Editor
Geothermal Resources Council (GRC), the largest
national association affiliated to IGA, held its 41 st
www.geothermal-energy.org

2
Annual Meeting. Over 1,000
attendees gathered at the world’s
largest annual geothermal energy
event that included the GEA(Geothermal
EnergyAssociation) GeoExpo+, at theSalt Palace Convention Centerin Salt Lake City, Utah from
October 1-4, 2017.
Utah Governor Gary Herbertaddressed the Opening Sessionof the meeting on Monday,
October 2. He was joined byother special guests and energy
experts, like Jackie Biskupski,
Mayor, Salt Lake City, Maria
Richards, President of the GRC,
Joe Greco, GEA Chairman,
Susan G. Hamm, Director of
the Geothermal Technologies
Office, U.S. Department ofEnergy, John White, Executive
Director of Center for Energy
Efficiency&
Renewable
4
Technologies,
Kathleen
Benedetto, Special Assistant to
the Secretary of the Interior, and Jon Cox, Vice
President of Government Affairs of Rocky Mountain
Power. There was also a panel moderated by Laura
Nelson from the Utah’s Governor Office of Energy
Development, and panelists Nick Goodman (Cyrq
Energy), Doug Glaspey (US Geothermal), Rahm
Orenstein (Ormat Technologies Inc.), Rhonda Mills(Geothermal Energy Association), and a special speech
by Joe Moore from the University of Utah’s Energy andGeoscience Institute and the GRC Annual Meeting
Chair.
Joe Moore recalled that on 1847 a wagon train ofpioneers arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.
From the back of his wagon, the Mormon leader
Brigham Young, who was ill with mountain fever,looked out at the vast desert below and declared, “Thisis the right place”. He added there is still a pioneering
spirit in the present Utah inhabitants to make the desert
blossom and they have turned to renewable energy toachieve this.

2

Just over a year ago, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie
Biskupski, announced an initiative to transition thecommunity to 100% renewable energy sources by 2032
and to reduce carbon emissions citywide by 80% by
2040. Joe Moore stressed that the geothermal
community can help realize this goal, since threegeothermal developers currently produce 73 MW ofgeothermal electricity, and this is only a small percentageof the estimated 1300 MW of untapped potential in thestate, enough to power a third of Utah.
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IGA News No. 109
The Opening Session attracted leading researchers,
academics, students, state and federal agency officials,
and executives from over 200 companies, such as
CYRQ Energy, Coso Energy,
ENEL Green Power, Ormat
Technologies, Inc., U.S.
Geothermal Inc., and others
that develop, build, maintainand operate geothermal plants
around America and theworld.
The GRC Annual Meetingfeatured over 70 hours oftechnical
presentations,workshops,
fieldtrips,aplenary
session,andnetworking events. The GRC
Technical Session programs
covered a wide array of topics
pertaining to geothermalenergy, with around 270
papers were presented both oral and/or poster sessions,the highest number in the last decade. These papers
highlighted geothermal developments and investigations
in more than 30 countries.
On Friday and Saturday prior to the start of three fulldays of technical sessions, meeting attendees
participated in two workshops on Geothermal Resource
Decisions and Operations & Maintenance.
The GEA GeoExpo+ featured exhibits by leading
companies who are paving the way for geothermal
development through new projects, products, services,and technology. Over 70 exhibitors had the opportunity
to present their products and services. The exhibit hall
was opened October 2 through October 4.
An International lunch and session provided the latest
updates from abroad U.S. It included an Assessment of
Mexico’s Geothermal Market by Francisco FloresEspino from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, and a Global Geothermal Investment
Perspective by Magnus Gehringer from Content
Energy. But there were also presentations from
Austral/Asia Region – Innovation Down-under byAndrea Blair from GNS Science, Indonesia region by
Abadi Poernomo from the Indonesian national
geothermal association, Philippine region by Paul
Cerrulo from Energy Development Company, Japan by
Hiroshii Asanuma from Advanced Industrial Scienceand Technology, China by Kewen Li from China
University of Petroleum, Central America region by
Gustavo Cuéllar Jr. from CASYS S.A., South America
region by Warren Dewhurst, East Africa region by
Andrew Palmateer from USEA, and the Middle East
region by Tevfik Kaya from GeothermEx /Schlumberger.
www.geothermal-energy.org

3
There was a field trip at the end of the congress, on
Wednesday October 4, to see the southern Utah geology& geothermal power plants in operation in the state, andOpening session. Photo by GRC.
some other activities like the GRC Charity Golf
Tournament, GRC Ambassador Program Workshop,
GEA Board and Members Meeting, GRC Mixer (called
A Night at the Museum), Lunch & GRC Awards,
GRC/GEA Networking Reception, GRC Membership
Meeting and GRC BoD Meeting, and a couple ofactivities organized by Women in Geothermal (WING
Yoga Class and WING Fun Run).
It was announced the next Annual Meeting will be heldon 14-17 October 2018, in Reno, Nevada.

Second Annual General
Assembly of GEMex Project
Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, Editor
The Mexican and European consortia of the GEMex
project met in Akureyri, Iceland, during the 1 st and 2ndof October and held their second annual general
assembly, hosted by the Icelandic geological survey(ÍSOR)–one of the consortium partners. Around 110
participants from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Italy, The Netherlands, Mexico, Norway,
Poland, and the United Kingdom gathered in the Hof
Cultural Center of this northern city of Iceland.
The Mexican delegation was composed of around 25
persons from the universities of Michoacán (UMSNH)
and Mexico (UNAM), CICESE, INEEL, a couple ofprivate companies (Geominco, Geocónsul), and two
representatives from the CFE –which holds the
exploitation concession of the Los Humeros geothermal
field and the exploration permit on the Acoculco
geothermal zone, areas where the project is being
developed.
The meeting agenda was as follows.
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IGA News No. 109
Monday 2 Oct. 2017
8:30-9:00
Registration & Coffee
8:45
PhD coffee table – Meeting point for
GEMex PhD students.
9:00-9:05
Welcome from the host. Ólafur G.
Flovenz, ÍSOR Director.
9:05-9:20
News from the EU Coordinator.
David Bruhn.
9:20-9:35
News from the Mexican Coordinator.
Aída López Hernández
9:35-9:45
Progress reports – Interim reportand upcoming periodic reports tothe EC- Katrin Kieling
9:45-10:00
Importance of GEMex for the EC andexpected next steps and results.
Upcoming fundind opportunities in
the next work program. Filippo
Gagliardi, DG RTD of the EC
10:00-10:40 Milestones reached by Work
Packages 3 & 4, presented by WP
responsible.
10:40-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-12:00 Progress report in the Work
Packages 5, 6, 7/9, and 8, presented
by WP responsible.
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-17:30 Breakout meetings on thematic
topics in five parallel sessions:
1) Geological Basis and Models.
Domenico Liotta & Víctor Hugo
Garduño (WP3 & WP4)
2) Geophysical Survey. Gyfli Pall
Hersir & Claudia Arango (WP5).
3) Reservoir modelling and design ofconcepts. Paromita Deb, Jan vanWess, Lies Peters, Eduardo González& Abel Hernández (WP6, WP7 &WP8).
4) Dissemination. Eugenio Trumpy(WP2).
5) Public engagement Zayre
González, Eleonoro Annunziata &Alessandro Scuillo (WP9/Task 7.4)
17:30-18:30 Executive board meeting of the two
consortia (Mexico-EU).
19:00
Dinner at HOF
Tuesday 3 Oct. 2017
9:00-11:00
Breakout meetings on thematic
topics:1) Geological Basis and Models.
www.geothermal-energy.org

4

11:00-12:00
12:00-13:00
13:00-17:00

18:30-20:00

Domenico Liotta & Víctor Hugo
Garduño (WP3 & WP4)
2) Geophysical Survey. Gyfli Páll
Hersir & Claudia Arango (WP5 &WP6).
Wrap-up, and official end of theassembly.
Lunch breakSelf-organized meetings, for EUMexican work teams to coordinate
joint activities. Four rooms available:
1) Task 4.3. Anna Jentsch.
2) Task 7.3. Environmental hazards.
Zayre González, Lies Peters &Massimo Angelone.
3) Task 3.1. Geological models of Los
Humeros & Acoculco. Philippe
Calcagno & Eugenio Trumpy.
4) WP6. Fracture and faults
characterization. Paromita Deb.
Telephone conference with EC &CONACyT. Coordinators of Mexico
and EU & Filippo Gagliardi.

Before the meeting, on Sunday October 1 the hostorganized an optional field-trip from Reikjavik to
Reykjanes high-temperature area, its power plant andthe drill site of the IDDP-2, the deepest well in Iceland.
The departure was at the ÍSOR offices, at 8.30 am,
returning to Reykjavík around 14.00 hours. Around 65
participants in the GEMex meeting attended the field
trip in two buses, leaded by experts from ÍSOR.
The buses stopped at the location of the IDDP-2 well,and then moved to the area of hot superficial
manifestations. After that, the participants went to thebridge between the Eurasia and North America plates,
and the area where the cooling fluids of the Reykjanes
power plant are discharged to the beach. Finally theparticipants jointed in the excellent exhibit area of thepower plant, which is exhibiting the theme ‘Energy isLife’, and got the lunch.
The entrance to the exhibition starts with the Big Bangoccurred 13.7 billion years ago, with many interactive
touchscreens. Then the exhibition presents the solar
system, the relationships between men and energy sinceprehistory up to now, alternative energy sources, andfinalizes with geothermal energy in Iceland. The
Reykjanes power plant is currently operated by HS
Energy, and it is composed of two 50 MW each turbinesthat can be seen since the exhibition area.
The general impression of the European and Mexican
partners was that the outcome of this first general
assembly was very positive, since it allowed a wide rangeof personal interactions and technical discussions
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

5member of the REN21 and has aseat in the Steering Committee,
currently with about 50 members.

MEXIREC attracted more than
1,600 participants from 44
countries
as
well
as
representatives from the private
sector and the general public,
including NGOs, academia,
business,industry
andinternationalorganizations.
According with the final report,
presented by Executive Secretary
Christine Lins in the closing
plenary session, MEXIREC was
View of the Reykjanes plant, at the bottom (Photo by the author).
composed of two ministerial
sessions and 25 parallel sessions
between both teams. In spite of a number ofheld over two days with more than 180 speakers fromteleconferences held by several WP teams along the lastaround the world.
year, nothing seems to be better than a live-meeting.
On the first day, MEXIREC held a series of side events
highlighting the importance of conversations about the
MEXIREC 2017 and the REN21
subjects mattering most. A total of 27 events took placeand organizations involved in the renewable energy
Steering Committee Meeting
sector highlighted their work and discussed their goals,
in Mexico City
future plans, and ways they are bringing innovation to
the table. At the end of the day, participants gathered in
Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, Editor
the main hall for an icebreaker and to discuss how
The International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)
people from around the world are designing future
was held in September 25 through 27 in the Santa Fe
solutions for today’s situations.
Convention Center and Expo, in Mexico City. This time
The second day began at 10 am, when Mexico’s Energy
the conference was called MEXIREC 2017. IREC is a
Minister, Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, officially kicked off
biennial event organized by REN21 and a local host in
the activities with an impassioned speech on Mexican
different places and countries, with a substancial
Energy Reform. He pointed out that thanks to a strong
support from the German government. MEXIREC was
legal framework, this paradigm shift recently in laws
the seventh conference. The first IREC was held inpassed by Mexico’s Executive body goes well beyond
Bonn, Germany (2004), and the following conferences
the use of traditional energy sources. He said the energy
were in Beijing (2005), Washington, D.C. (2008), Newtransition is a priority that needs to be accelerated to
Delhi (2010), Abu Dhabi (2013), and Cape Town
achieve significant changes.
(2015). The 2017 host was the Mexican Ministry of
MEXIREC was opened by Leonardo F. Beltrán,
Energy (SENER). The event was held within the
SENER’s Deputy Minister of Planning and Energy
framework of Strategic Dialogues for Future of Energy
Transition, who spoke about Mexico’s vision four years
in Mexico (DEMEX).
after the approval of Energy Reform, which includes a
REN21 (Renewable Energy International Network forstrong commitment to the international community by
the 21st Century) is the global renewable-energy, multithe signing of many treaties. He noted that Mexico is
stakeholder policy network connecting a wide range ofthe first middle-income country with climate change
key actors. Its goal is facilitating knowledge exchange,
laws.
policy development, and joint action towards a rapid
Arthouros Zervos, Chair of REN21, began his speech
global transition to renewable energy. REN21 bringsby sharing an important message: “REN21 was founded
together governments, nongovernmental organizations,in 2004. Back then no one could possibly imagine that
research and academic institutions, international
60% of production capacity would be renewable. To
organizations and industry to learn from one anothersolve the issue of global warming, a complete deand build on successes that advance renewable energy.
carbonization of energy sources is needed”.
REN21 is an international non-profit association and isbased at the United Nations Environment Programme
Two main panels were presented on the second day—
(UNEP) in Paris, France. The IGA is an official
Ministerial and High Level 1 and 2. The main topics
www.geothermal-energy.org

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IGA News No. 109
discussed were the roles of the energy sector in the Paris
Agreement, specifically in the implementation of NDCs(Nationally Determined Contributions to achieve thegoals of the Paris Agreement); and the renewable energy
transition, both global and in Latin America and the
Caribbean, where the paths may be different but goals
are shared. Among the speakers were Rainer Baake,
Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs andEnergy, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of theInternational Energy Agency, and Li Farong, Deputy
Minister of the China National Energy Administration.
After the sessions, the more than 3,000 attendees
enjoyed a taste of Mexican culture.
1MEXIREC’s last day of activities urged the world’s
energy players to adapt and adopt renewable andefficient energy generation. In the Parallel Sessions,participants learned geothermal energy is an
extraordinary asset—a source of clean, baseload energy.
Geothermal development is underway, even with little
government regulatory encouragement as a clean energy
source. Conversation on wind power focused on its
ability to provide large amounts of energy. Participants
talked also about the multiple roles of solar energy inproviding distributed energy and creating new jobs andcommercial opportunities. Is renewable energy a utopia?
This question was asked andanswered—one cannot answer sucha question in general terms sinceenergy (its provision, use, etc.) issituation-specific. But it is clear thetransport sector must engage more
fully in the transition, given its shareof final energy consumption.

6

2. Approval of REN21
annual accounts 2016
3. REN21 Bureau elections
4. REN21 Work plan 2018,
including decision about
IREC 2019 hosting
proposals
Lunch
5. Brainstorming for REN21
strategy 2019-21 to be
adopted at SC 2018
End of meeting

Efraín Villanueva,
Director-General, SENER
REN21 Secretariat
All
REN21 Secretariat

All

A total of 22 members of the SC gathered for the
meeting, including the representative of the IGA, Luis
C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín, on behalf of Marit Brommer,
the IGA’s Executive Director. The general consensus
was that MEXIREC was very successful due in part tothe efforts of the Secretariat and the Mexican host,particularly Efraín Villanueva. After the REN21
accounts of the past year were unanimously approved,
the SC elected the Bureau.

MEXIREC’s closing event camewith the reading of the Conference
Declaration by Ambassador Irene
Giner-Reichl. The audience received
the statement with a warm round of
applause, marking the end of the
program. REN21’s Chair, Arthouros
Efraín Villanueva addresses to the REN21 SC.
Zervos, closed MEXIREC after
Rainer Baacke, Germany’s Secretary
The REN21 Bureau is composed of the Chair and sevenof Energy, thanked the Mexican Government for theVice-Chairs of the SC as well as the Executive Secretary.
warm reception throughout the three days. The final
The Bureau makes decisions and exercises executive
farewell came from Efraín Villanueva, SENER’s
authority between SC meetings. In accordance with the
Director of Clean Energies.
REN21 Statutes, the term of Bureau members is two
Taking advantage of MEXIREC, the REN21 Steering
years. Since the past Bureau was elected in OctoberCommittee (SC) met on September 14th in Mexico City,
2015, the SC had to elect a new Bureau. There were
the day after the conference ended. The agenda included
nine candidates. The seven with the most votes were
the following topics:
elected. Luis Gutiérrez-Negrín presented the candidacyof Marit Brommer, and she earned enough votes tobecome a member of the Bureau. Effective September
Topic
Presentation by
14th, the IGA has become part of the REN21 Bureau.
1. Welcome and Review of Arthouros Zervos, Chair,
The other new Bureau members for the 2017-2019 term
MEXIREC
REN21
are the representatives of the International Energy
www.geothermal-energy.org

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IGA News No. 109
Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA), the Global Wind Energy Council(GWEC), the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE),
the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), and theGerman Government.
The SC discussed the work plan for 2018, whose generaloutline had been approved as part of the REN21
triennial strategy of 2016-2018. One important elementof this work plan was the selection of the venue for the2019 IREC. There were two proposals, one from
Australia and the other submitted by the Korea Energy
Agency on behalf of the new government of the
Republic of Korea. After a short discussion, the SC
approved Korea as the venue of the next international
conference, to be held 23 through 26 October 2019 inSeoul. After that, the decision was officiallycommunicated to Dr. S.K. Gavin Yu and his team, who
thanked them for the choice and offered a generaloutline of the preliminary draft plan of the conference.

7
The first results of the project, the first slim-hole well in
the country, confirmed an intermediate geothermal
reservoir on the site, according to the ODDEG.
“With these results in line with our expectations and the
expectations of a whole country, we were finally able tocarry out a feasibility study for the construction of ageothermal power station with a capacity of 15MW in
its first phase, which will reach 50MW in its final
phase,” the statement said.

Participants offered general ideas for the REN21
strategy for 2019-2021. It will be incorporated by the
Secretariat in the final version and presented at the SC
meeting next year.

AFRICA
Djibouti: Kuwaiti Grant for
Geothermal Program
Kuwait has granted US$27 million to support thegeothermal development program in Djibouti.
According to a statement from the Djiboutian
Geothermal Energy Development Office (ODDEG),
the Kuwaiti Development Fund (FKD) will provide a
US$27 million loan for drilling 10 wells (eight
production boreholes and two re-injection boreholes)
and a geothermal power plant with a capacity of 15 MW
by the year 2021.
The agreement, signed in late July, is hailed by bothsides as helping to propel the national geothermal
development program in Djibouti.
“The signing of this agreement is mainly the result of
two weeks of intensive work between the FKD andODDEG officials, who focused on the financial andtechnical evaluation of the Gale le Koma geothermal
project in the region of Lake Assal, located in the northof Djibouti.
Launched in October 2016 by Djibouti President Ismail
Omar Guelleh, the project has been fully funded by the
Djibouti government and executed by the ODDEG.
Djibouti has acquired two drilling rigs (a first in the
country) capable of drilling more than 2 km deep andgreatly strengthening the training of its human skills.
www.geothermal-energy.org

The Djiboutian president has made the development ofclean energy, permanent and accessible to all andeverywhere one of the priorities of the road map of its
new five-year plan. The President of Djibouti said theenergy independence of his country will be “… basedon renewable energies and especially geothermal energy
whose potential is estimated at over 1,000MW”.
The Republic of Djibouti, with a population of 923,000
persons and surface area of 23,200 square kilometers,
currently uses 65% hydroelectric power generated inneighboring Ethiopia. Djibouti aims to become the first
African country to use 100% green energy by 2025.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/djiboutisecures-27m-loan-from-kuwait-for-geothermal-drillingcampaign/

Ethiopia: Japanese Grant, andthe Corbetti and Tendaho
Geothermal Projects
Japan Extended Grant for Power Plant in Aluto
Langano - Shinichi Saida, Japanese ambassador to
Ethiopia, and Admasu Nebebe, Ethiopia’s State
Minister for Finance and Economic Cooperation,
signed the Exchange of Notes for three Grant
Assistance Projects. The grant is worth US$51 million.
One of these projects is the ‘Installation of a geothermal
wellhead in Aluto Langano’.
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IGA News No. 109
After the signing ceremony, Ambassador Saida said thegovernment of Japan is determined to contribute to
Ethiopia’s vision of becoming a lower middle-income
country by 2025, as outlined in the Second Growth andTransformation Plan of the country.
The Installation of Geothermal Wellhead system in the
Aluto Langano project will help diversify power sources.
The project is expected to benefit 300,000 people.
Considering the grant size, the plant to be installed at
the wellhead seems likely to be a 5MW flash power
plant.
Last May the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy(MoWIE) said the country was preparing to begin a 75
MW geothermal project in the Aluto Langano field andthat the World Bank had provided financial assistanceof about US$126 million. The amount is insufficient forthis capacity.
Ethiopia has the longest section of the 7,000 km East
African Rift Valley, which boasts an estimatedgeothermal potential of 10,000MW.
Sources:
http://apanews.net/index.php/en/news/japanextends-51m-grant-to-ethiopia,
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/201705/26/c_136315335.htm
Corbetti Project Resumed - The much delayed two
billion dollars Ethiopian geothermal development
project Corbetti near Shashemene, is ready to begin.
Corbetti Geothermal, a multi-national energy company
working to develop 500MW of electric power fromgeothermal sources in the Corbetti Caldera in the East
Arsi Zone, and the Ethiopian government have resolved
their differences over implementing the project.

8
Corbetti Geothermal, the Ethiopian Ministry of Water,
Irrigation (MoWIE) and Electricity and the Ethiopian
Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation
finalized negotiations to sign the final agreement toenable the company to embark on Africa’s largest
geothermal project.
Reykjavik Geothermal (RG), an Icelandic company
specializing in geothermal energy development projects,
signed a framework agreement with the then Ethiopian
Electric Power Corporation in October 2013 enabling it
to develop 1,000MW of electricity from geothermalenergy sources in Corbetti, Tulu Moye, and Abaya in thesoutheastern part of Ethiopia. RG, with its local partner
Rift Valley Geothermal, established Corbetti
Geothermal Plc and brought along two major investors–Berkley Energy and Iceland Drilling– who have showna keen interest in investing in the geothermal
development project.
After lengthy negotiations, Corbetti Geothermal and theEthiopian Electric Power signed a conditional powerpurchasing agreement in July 2015. Though theimplementation agreement was supposed to be signed inAugust 2016, it was delayed because of some differences
between the company and the Ethiopian Government.
But now the two parties have resolved their differences
and hope to sign the project implementation agreement
by end of 2017. The implementation agreement will be
ratified by the Ethiopian Parliament.
RG split the 1,000MW geothermal development project
into two phases –the 500MW Corbetti project and the500MW Tulu Moye and Abaya project– each costing
two billion dollars. Corbetti Geothermal Plc has beenworking on the Corbetti geothermal development
project located 270 km south-east of Addis Ababa in
East Arsi Zone, Shalla Woreda,
Corbetti Kebele. RG owns a 28.5
percent stake on Corbetti Geothermal
Plc, Berkley Energy 53.5 percent and
Iceland Drilling 18 percent.
Corbetti Geothermal secured funding
from major international financiers,
including the African Development
Bank and European Investment Bank.
Many other public and private
investors from the US, the UK andother European countries are behind
the Corbetti geothermal project. The
project is also backed by the US
Power Africa Initiative.
Once the implementation agreement
for the Corbetti geothermal project issigned, negotiation for Tulu Moye andAbaya
geothermal
development
project would commence, with awww.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
capacity of 500MW. RG considers Tulu Moye andAbaya as second phase project that will kick off once
the PPA and IA are signed. RG has notified EEP and
its partner, an American company called Meridian thatwill finance the Tulu Moye and Abaya geothermal
projects.
The first 20MW of the project could be in operation in
the last quarter of 2017.
The country’s total generation capacity has reached
4,280 MW of which 92% is hydro, 6% wind, and 2%
thermal. Ethiopia’s maximum geothermal potential isestimated to be 10,000 MW. The hydro power
generation capacity could reach 45,000 MW.
Sources:
https://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails/4544/Et
hiopia-Reykjavik-Geothermal-RG-Resolve-Differencesover-Largest-Geothermal-Project-in-Africa,
http://allafrica.com/stories/201709191094.html
EEP to Develop Tendaho Geothermal Power
Project - The Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP)
company invited qualified bidders to express interest forthe procurement of full drilling services at the Dubti
Field for the Tendaho Geothermal Power Project, withdeadline past October 2nd.

9
400 kV Transmission Line Is Completed - A new
480 kilometer, Mombasa-Nairobi electricity line meant
to deliver geothermal power to Mombasa has been
completed. The 400 kilovolt line, a Vision 2030 flagshipproject, was initiated in August 2011 and scheduled forcompletion in three years. Vandalism led to delays.
James Mutemi of Kenya Electricity Transmission
Company said the upgrade would boost power supply inthe country. “The line will enable electricity generated
from the geothermal power plant at Olkaria to betransmitted to Mombasa,” said Mutemi.
Source: http://www.kdrtv.com/geothermal-power-lineto-be-commissioned-in-mombasa/
Progress in the Baringo-Silale Geothermal Block Geothermal Development Company (GDC) has madesignificant progress in phase one of a key power
generation project in Baringo County. Phase one of theBaringo-Silale Geothermal block is expected to supply
300MW to the national grid on its completion in three
years.

The Tendaho Geothermal Power Project will develop
resources in the project area in two phases. The main
objectives of the Tendaho Phase I Project include thesuccessful completion of the first round of shallow
production well drilling and the finalization of relevant
feasibility studies. They will define and develop theshallow reservoir, allowing near-term exploitation of theshallow resource at the maximum sustainable capacity(presently estimated to be about 10 to 12MW). An
additional objective is to drill two deep (up to 2500 m)
wells to investigate the deep reservoir. It could increase
the field capacity to an estimated 100MW, or more.
The drilling services required for Tendaho Phase I
include drilling six high-temperature, shallow wells (upto about 600 m depth) aimed at reaching the desired
initial energy output and the drilling of two deep
exploration wells (up to about 2500 m depth) toinvestigate the deep reservoir for future expansion.
Source: https://www.esi-africa.com/tenders/ethiopiatendaho-geothermal-power-project/

Kenya: Transmission Line,Baringo-Silale, Application for
Exploration Licenses, anotherWell-head Plant, andFeasibility Study in Olkaria
www.geothermal-energy.org

Some geothermal areas in Kenya. Map by Marietta
Mutonga, taken fromhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marietta_Mutonga/publication.
George Kinyanjui, the GDC general manager in chargeof drilling and infrastructure, said the firm had alreadyopened a road network to the area. Work on more than
120 kilometers has been completed. “We’re installingsteam fields, three in each of the project areas,”
Kinyanjui said.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
The company has already installed community
distribution systems and nine storage tanks, each with acapacity of 4.5 million liters. The water will be pumped
through two-inch pipes from the source at Lake
Baringo.
In total, the Bogoria-Silale Geothermal block will
generate more than 3,000 MW once the work iscompleted. GDC has identified Silale, Paka,
Korossi/Chepchuk and areas around lakes Baringo and
Bogoria as potential sites for geothermal energy
development.
The project has so far attracted 36 bidders, who are
expected to provide services such as casing and wellcementing, rig moving, drill pipe inspection, directional
drilling, and aerated drilling.
Johnson ole Nchoe, GDC managing director, said thefirm set aside Sh300 billion (US$2.89 billion) for the
project in the first phase, with another Sh600 billion to
be injected into the project in the second phase.

10

UPCOMING EVENTS
IGC – Invest Geothermal
7 November 2017, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Geothermal Energy Development for a Green
Economy7-14 November 2017, Hanoi, Vietnam
New Zealand Geothermal Workshop
22-24 November 2017, Rotorua, New Zealand
43rd Annual Stanford Geothermal Workshop
12-14 February 2018, Stanford, CA, U.S.
GeoTHERM – Expo & Congress
1-2 March, 2018, Offenburg, Germany
Iceland Geothermal Conference 201824-26 April 2018, Reykjavik, Iceland“There are various [other areas] that GDC is interested
in, including Suswa which is still in its early stages,” said
Paul Ngugi, GDC regional manager Central Rift.

Grand Renewable Energy 201817-22 June 2018, Yokoyama, Japan

In addition, GDC has been drilling in its flagship fieldof Menengai, where three Independent Power
Producers (IPPs) are expected to build power plants anduse the steam to generate a combined 105 MW.
Quantam Power East Africa, Orpower Twenty Two,and Sosian Energy each will develop a geothermal plantwith a capacity of 35MW.

Seventh African Rift Geothermal Conference(ARGeo-C7)
29 October – 4 November 2018, Kigali,
RwandaThe sale of steam is a critical revenue stream for GDC,
earning it Sh3 billion (US$28.9 million) per year. The
entity is trying to wean itself from government funding.
Other than the partnerships for the generation of power
where IPPs will pay for the steam supplied, the firm isconsidering putting up industrial parks within its project
areas. The parks are expected to help absorb excess
capacity that will be produced when more plants coming
online.
Sources: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Firm-makessteady-progress-in-construction-of-power-plant/10563996930-y48houz/index.html,
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/200
1246483/kengen-gdc-in-plans-to-venture-outsideolkaria-and-menengai-in-developing-geothermal-power
KenGen Applies for Further Geothermal
Exploration Licenses - An official from the Kenya
Electricity Generation Company (KenGen) has
announced that the national power utility seeks tobroaden its geothermal exploration scope. The resourcedevelopment manager at KenGen’s Olkaria project,
Peketsa Mangi, said that along with the Geothermal
Development Company (GDC), they plan to further
www.geothermal-energy.org

Note: Please check the IGA website for more
events.
geothermal exploration outside the two traditional areasof Olkaria and Menengai.
The power company has applied for a license to exploreand develop geothermal power in Eburru and Lake
Magadi. “We have made an application to the ministryof energy to start exploration and development of moregeothermal fields in the Rift Valley. At the moment wewant to move to Eburru and have made an application
for Lake Magadi,” Mangi said. He added: “There are 20
geothermal prospects in Kenya with a capacity to
produce over 10,000 MW, and we are trying to identify
where we can prospect next and make an application to
the Ministry of Energy.”
Source:https://www.esi-africa.com/news/kengenapplies-geothermal-exploration-licence/
Chinese Firm to Construct another Wellhead Power
Plant - KenGen has awarded a consortium led by aChinese firm a Sh9.4 billion (US$18.3 million) contract
to build a wellhead power plant at Olkaria in Naivasha.
Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services Group (YJOSG)
announced it has bid to construct a modular power
plant at one of the wells ready to start delivering steam.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
YJOSG participated in the bid in a joint venture that
included local contractor H Young. The project entails
the installation of wellhead generators.
The wellheads technology will use small power units
that are fitted next to the wells. Generation can takeplace within as little as nine months from the time thewell is tested. Using one of the original six wells firstcommissioned in 2012, KenGen now generates
2.52MW of wellhead geothermal power from theEburru plant.
This is usually a short-term measure for wells
undergoing testing or awaiting construction of
permanent and larger plants. It was reported in
December 2016 that KenGen was generating 83MW
using wellhead generators. They have accelerated its
investment in geothermal electricity as it seeks toincrease the contribution of renewable energy in the
country’s power mix.

11
Source:http://langsonenergy.com/archives/category/news/rec
ent-news

Tanzania: CIF to Fund theStarting of the Ngozi Project
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has approved
US$21.7 million for the United Republic of Tanzania tofinance its Geothermal Energy Development Project.
This project serves as a significant step in advancing thecountry’s plans to transform the national economy with
an affordable and baseload sustainable energy
technology. It will develop the Ngozi geothermal steam
field in southwestern Tanzania (see IGA News 108, p. 8)
and ultimately showcase the technology’s broader
potential in the country’s energy transformation.

Source:https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/200
1249321/chinese-firm-gets-sh9-45b-geothermalcontract, http://theargeo.org/July/kenya4.html
Feasibility Study to Enhance the Use of
Geothermal Fluids in the Olkaria Wells - Langson
Energy, Inc. (LEI), a USA energy equipment
manufacturer, was selected by KenGen to conduct agreen technology feasibility study for the Olkaria
Geothermal Power Plant. KenGen has been searchingfor a specialized generator set that can be installed
upstream as a topping unit capable of accepting highpressure geothermal wellhead pressures to capture thewaste energy and generate additional clean electricity.
This study already begun and partially funded by theUnited States Trade and Development Agency, will be
used to evaluate the technical, commercial, financial,and environmental viability of Langson Energy’s 5MW
Total Flow Generator™ to make more efficient use of
the geothermal resource at Olkaria. If the study results
are successful, KenGen and LEI will have theopportunity to install a number of additional units at
more than 275 wells to optimize power plant efficiency,
greatly impacting the electric footprint in the country.
Langson Energy‘s Senior Engineer, Ronald DiPippo,
will be the Geothermal Expert on the project and workwith a team of 10 other experts. As author of four major
books, DiPippo is the foremost world authority andconsultant on Geothermal Power Plants. He stated,“The advantages of a thermodynamically equivalent
Total Flow Generator will lie in its simplicity, lower
capital cost, ease and rapidity of installation, reliable
operation, lower cost of electricity, and ability to operate
on lower-temperature reservoirs, compared to either
flash-steam or binary systems.”
www.geothermal-energy.org

Some geothermal areas in Tanzania. Source:
Geothermal Energy in Africa, by Geothermal Power
Limited (GPL).
The project is funded under the CIF’s Scaling-up
Renewable Energy Program (SREP) and will receive
US$5 million as a loan and US$16.73 million as grant
resources to be implemented by the African
Development Bank (AfDB). Tanzania has madesignificant economic and social progress over the past
20 years and is today one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s best
economic performers. However, the country still
wrestles with poverty and an under-developed energy
sector. Half of its electricity is generated by fossil-based
technologies and half by hydro.
The country is committed to transforming its energy
sector through a more diversified mix of technologies
tapping into its renewable resources. Geothermal energy
is a particularly promising technology for the country,
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
which has around 15 geothermal sites with an untapped
estimated potential of 650 megawatts (MW). A sixth of
this potential can be developed in the Ngozi site.
Leandro Azevedo, AfDB’s Senior Climate Finance
Officer and CIF Coordinator, said this is “…the firststep in the transformation of Tanzania’s energy sector, atransformation that is being built on a sustainableenergy source… Developing geothermal capacity in
Tanzania is an essential part of that transformation andwe hope that this project’s success will lead downstream
to the installation of a 100MW power plant and help
create the conditions for the development of othergeothermal sites in the country.”
The project involves exploratory test drilling andinstalling the required steam gathering infrastructure in
the Ngozi geothermal site. This SREP highly
concessional finance will be instrumental in mitigating
the high-risk nature of geothermal prospection and fielddevelopment. Ultimately, the project is also expected totransform not only Tanzania and its energy sector but
also the African Rift Valley Region.
The project’s 100MW generation will be added to thecountry’s energy mix adding up to 823 GWh per year to
the grid. Electricity from these fields will increase thecountry’s energy security and reduce its dependence onelectricity imported from Uganda, Zambia, and Kenya.
In addition, a more diversified energy mix will
strengthen the power sector’s resilience to future
shocks. The project will also contribute downstream tocapital mobilization from both public and private
investors by creating an enabling environment forunlocking both public and private funds. The total
contribution expected from private sector is estimatedat US$300 million. Households and businesses will
benefit from the supply of clean and reliable green
energy, thereby creating urgently needed jobs.
Source: https://www.afdb.org/en/news-andevents/tanzania-wins-us-21-7-million-from-climateinvestment-funds-to-advance-geothermal-explorationand-transform-its-energy-sector-17202/

AMERICAS
Chile: Can Chile Become aHotspot for Investment in
Geothermal Energy?
Following are some excerpts from a comment published in a blog
by IRENA.
Chile’s abundant geothermal potential provides a good
renewable energy option to further diversify thecountry’s power generation mix – something consistent
with Chile’s Energy Policy, which aims for at least 70%
www.geothermal-energy.org

12of national electricity generation to come fromrenewable sources by 2050.
Chile has long been the leader of Latin America's
renewable energy market. In 2015, investment inrenewables (including small hydropower projects of<50MW) was around US$2.6 billion.
The rate of growth of investment in renewable energy
has increased in the past few years, and competition has
lowered electricity costs.
But geothermal energy is lagging. Chile’s only
geothermal plant, Cerro Pabellón, which opened earlier
this year, is South America’s first operating plant. The
government has tried to develop geothermal energy, but
despite a promising start, several issues are preventing
further investments in exploration. ESMAP’s Global
Geothermal Development Plan (GGDP) was
instrumental in mobilizing a US$50 million grantthrough the Inter-American Development Bank fromthe Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to stimulate
additional investments in the sector. In addition, theCTF approved a grant of US$3 million through thebank –of which US$1.78 is bank-executed to provide
technical assistance to the government in addressing key
legal, social and market barriers and contribute to thedevelopment of tradeable geothermal resources.
In October 2016, renewable energy producers in Chile
had won more than a 50% share of Chile’s power
tender, with falling costs for renewables driving the
average bid price down. This results will have an impact
on Chile’s electricity system, starting in 2022, andpositioning geothermal energy to enter the electricity
market will be crucial.
A key aspect of the project is bringing together thegovernment and the geothermal industry to discuss thetechnical and economic impacts of geothermal energy
within the unified electricity system in Chile with anincreasing intake of non-conventional renewable energy.
To ensure that the government and the private sector
remained committed to geothermal efforts, ESMAP
supported a geothermal roundtable with the objectivesof: (i) estimating the cost of geothermal energy in Chile;(ii) analyzing the impact of geothermal energy on the
Chilean electricity sector, in the short and long term;and (iii) identifying potential policies to promote
geothermal development. The results of the roundtable
will be critical for the continued support to geothermalenergy in terms of investment and policy.
ESMAP also supported a study tour where Chilean
government officials and indigenous communities
visited Nicaragua to learn about the country’s
experience with geothermal development. Discussions
focused on how those living in geothermal project areas,
including indigenous populations, can benefit fromindustrial services, employment and better connectivity,
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
and other gains associated with the sector’s
development. The exchanges with peers helped
communities shift their mind-sets about geothermal andsupport its development.
To add to this, an ESMAP-funded study helped identify
the main barriers to geothermal development andPhoto by ENAP.
understand the magnitude of the challenge. It aims tohelp Chile create a favorable environment to boost
investment in the geothermal sector. The study analyzed
the measures required to stimulate the geothermal
drilling market, with a focus on risk reduction in drilling
activities for geothermal developers. The actions
identified include:- Higher non-conventional renewable energy goals to
include higher percentages of geothermal energy before
2025- Fiscal incentives in the first phases of project
development as well as loan guarantees- Risk mitigation funds that provide capital during firstphases of project development- Direct injection of capital during first phases of project
development- Cost reductions due to reductions in rig crew andstandby days of drilling operations- Regulation reform to shorten project developmenttime- Increase in human resources in all relevant institutions
handling actions within the regulatory process, likeprocuring licenses and developing EIAs
- Public aid to infrastructure in remote mountain areas
www.geothermal-energy.org

13- Information dissemination to all stakeholders within
the geothermal industry, including private developers,
the public, regional governments, and agencies
Source: https://esmap.org/node/74446

Chile: Official Inauguration of
the First
Geothermal
Power Plant
in SouthAmerica
On September 12th, Eneland ENAP (Empresa
Nacional de Petróleo)inaugurated
Cerro
Pabellón, which is thefirst geothermal power
plant in South America
and the world’s firstlarge-scale facility of thiskind to be built at 4500
meters above sea level.
Theinauguration
ceremony, which follows
the start of operations at
the second of the plant’s
two 24MW units, wasopened by Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet andattended by Chile’s Energy Minister Andrés Rebolledo,
the country’s Environment Minister Marcelo Mena,
Enel CEO and General Manager Francesco Starace,
ENAP CEO Marcelo Tokman and Antonio
Cammisecra, Head of Enel’s renewable division Enel
Green Power.
“We are proud to inaugurate Cerro Pabellón, which is amilestone not only for us, but for all of South America
and will help Chile to diversify its generation mix”, said
Enel CEO Francesco Starace. “The construction of
Cerro Pabellón represented a technical and humanchallenge that we have been able to successfully tackle
thanks to the effort of a highly specialized team thatworked in the midst of the beauty and harshness of thedesert. We hope that this milestone will be for Chile thestarting point of a new path in energy development toboost the growth of its geothermal sector which canleverage on a significant potential and resource
availability.”Marcelo Tokman, CEO of ENAP said: “Today we closea chapter in the quest to use geothermal energy in Chileand we begin a new stage. An effort of almost ahundred years, including the first geothermal committee
created by CORFO and ENAP five decades ago, andwhich illustrates precisely the role our company has
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
today to articulate projects and solutions that promote asustainable energy future”.
During the ceremony the Environment Minister
Marcelo Mena awarded Cerro Pabellón’s base campwith the Sello de Excelencia en la Gestión de Gases de Efecto
Invernadero (Seal of Excellence for Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Management) as part of the Ministry’s Huella
Chile program. This is the first time that a project inChile receives this award which recognizes the measures
implemented at the base camp throughout thedevelopment of the project to quantify, reduce andneutralize the emissions of greenhouse gases.
Cerro Pabellón is located in the Atacama Desert, in the
Ollagüe district, Antofagasta region, and is composed of
two units with a gross installed capacity of 24MW eachfor a total capacity of 48MW. Once fully operational, it
will be able to produce around 340 GWh per year,
avoiding the annual emission of more than 166,000 tonsof CO2 to the atmosphere.
Cerro Pabellón is a high-enthalpy binary cycle plant andincorporates the most advanced geothermal
technologies to guarantee an optimum performanceagainst the extreme conditions of its location,
characterized by high temperature variation and highaltitude. In addition, the geothermal fluid extracted fromthe production wells, once completed the generation
cycle into the plant, is re-injected into the reservoir
ensuring the long-term availability and sustainability of
the geothermal resource. One of the particularcharacteristics of geothermal energy is its ability to
produce energy continuously, 24 hours a day.
The facility, whose construction required an investmentof around US$320 million, is owned by Geotérmica delNorte S.A. (GDN), a joint venture controlled by Enel’s
Chilean renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power Chile(83.65%) and participated by ENAP (16.35%). The first
24MW unit started to deliver energy to the Norte
Grande transmission system (SING, Sistema
Interconectado del Norte Grande) at the end of March,while the second unit is fully operational since October.
Source:https://www.enel.com/es/medios/press/d201709enel-and-enap-inaugurate-south-americas-firstgeothermal-power-plant-cerro-pabelln.html

Costa Rica: Miravalles Field
Renamed, Geothermal Loan in
Risk
ICE Names Miravalles Field after Geothermal
Pioneer - The country’s national utility company, theCosta Rican Electricity Institute (ICE: Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad) has announced the decision toname Campo Miravalles in the province of Guanacaste
www.geothermal-energy.org

14
in honor of the pioneer of geothermal energy in Costa
Rica, Dr. Alfredo Mainieri-Protti. The change was
implemented in early July, with an official act in thegeothermal field, with presence of his relatives and hisformer colleagues.
Alfredo Mainieri
ledgeothermal
research in Costa
Rica since the1970s and was
involved in thedevelopment ofthegeothermal
projects Miravalles
I, II, III, IV and
V, Las Pailas I andII, as well as the
future Borinquen I
and II geothermal
plants. He wasborn in Puntarenas in 1934 anddied in San José,
the capital of Costa Rica, in 2013. One of his slogans
was to develop electrical projects in coexistence,recovery and preservation of the environment.
In the statement, ICE recalled that Mainieri was aprofound advocate for the socio-economic, labor andinfrastructure well-being of the communities in thegeothermal fields developed by ICE, such as Miravalles
and Guayabo and Fortuna de Bagaces.
One of the last public speeches of Dr Mainieri was at
the formal inauguration of the Las Pailas I geothermal
plant. Then he said, “In all these years we haveproduced clean energy, we have formed our own
technicians and professionals, we have installed six
geothermal power plants --including this commissioned
today-- that have been efficiently operated, we haveacquired equipment, machinery and tools of advanced
technology, we have innovated new technologies, someunique in the world such as the use of steam producedby acid wells which are unable to be used in othercountries… thanks to the ingenuity, innovation anddevotion of our people…”
In related news, the Geothermal Resources Council(GRC) announced it grants a GRC Special Citation
Award to Alfredo Mainieri Protti, “For his lifelong
pioneering work and enduring achievements in Costa
Rica’s geothermal power development.” The award waspresented in the GRC Annual Meeting held in Salt Lake
City, Utah, October 1 through 4.
It is worth to recall the Mexican Geothermal
Association also granted a Special Award to Alfredo
Mainieri in its 21st Annual Congress and General
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
Assembly, held in Morelia City, Mexico, in October
2013, “As a posthumous homage to his great
contribution to the geothermal development in Latin
America.” The award was accepted by his widow,
Elizabeth Mora, and his eldest son, Alejandro MainieriMora, in an emotional ceremony (see IGA News No. 94,
pp. 10-12).
Sources: http://www.elmundo.cr/campo-miravallesdel-ice-honrara-al-padre-la-geotermia-costa-rica/,
https://geothermal.org/PDFs/News_Releases/2017/S
eptember_11Global_Geothermal_Awards_Announced.pdf

15
consultant contracted by JICA (Japan International
Cooperation Agency), on late August a drilling rig wasassembled on the first pad at the Chachimbiro Project.
The drilling equipment was transported to the site in 91
partial loads, some from Colombia and some from cities
in Ecuador.
The operation was supported by the highest authority of
the city, the National Police, Traffic Agents, and the
Urcuquí Fire Department. It was necessary to improveand adapt several roads and construct the pad,necessitating four months of uninterrupted work.

US$500 Million Loan for Geothermal Is at Risk The Costa Rican Congress decided not to approve a
US$500 million loan that the state-run power company,
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), wants to takeout with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
to finance geothermal power generation projects in the
country.
The deputies argued that they were not clear about thefinancial situation at ICE, which would receive the loan,
for which the State would act as guarantor. The decision
to halt the loan approval comes two days after President
Solis announced he is facing a liquidity crisis.
Deputy Mario Redondo stated that, “...This is about anentity (ICE) for which we have no clarity about its
financial statements. The Legislative Assembly mustseek transparency regarding a loan such as the one inwhich we are now involved… It is a cooperationagreement with the IDB to finance investment projects
for a program for renewable energy and thetransmission and distribution of electricity signed on
February 5, 2016, by the international entity. The
Government of Costa Rica is acting as guarantor.”
With the loan, the state power company was planning tocomplete the Borinquen I and Las Pailas II geothermal
projects and improve the transfer line from Guanacasteand its connection with Central America. The
construction project for the geothermal plants will
require a total investment of US$374 million, of which$240 million will be covered by the loan from theGovernment of Japan and the remaining amount, withfunds from the IDB and resources from the ICE.

Transport of part of the drilling rig (taken from thesource).
The Chachimbiro Project has a potential estimated at
50MW and is financed by JICA through a nonreimbursable technical cooperation. It includes thetransfer of technical-scientific knowledge to young
Ecuadorian professionals by Mexican and Japaneseexperts who, supported by the knowledge of companies
with extensive experience in this field, make it possiblethat Ecuador will count not only with this valuable
energy source but also can generate capacities for theuse of its geothermal resources throughout the country.
The results at the end of this exploratory drilling phasewill determine the way forward for the development
stage of the geothermal field and the subsequent
construction of the power plant.

Source:http://www.centralamericadata.com/en/article/main/500_million_for_Geothermal_is_At_Risk

Source:https://www.celec.gob.ec/termopichincha/index.php/
noticias-termopichincha/494-inician-actividades-degeotermia

Ecuador: Exploratory Drilling
Started in the Chachimbiro
Project

Honduras: First Geothermal
Power Plant Starts to Operate

In accordance with the schedule established with
Mitsubishi Materials Techno Corp., a Japanesewww.geothermal-energy.org

First tests were conducted at the Platanares geothermal
power project in La Unión, Copán, in Honduras,
Central America. The plant has a binary cycle and an
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
installed capacity of 35MW. The estimated investment
cost was US$ 200 million, and the plant is expected to
be under commercial operation in October 2017.

16
The Platanares geothermal project is regulated by theLaw for the Promotion of the Generation of Electric
Energy with Renewable Resources, enacted in 2007 to
benefit from an income tax exemption during the first
10 years of operation.
Elsia Paz, president of the Honduran Association of
Renewable Energy (AHER), stressed that this projectwill benefit a large region of western Honduras facing
energy supply problems. She said the expected value per
kWh is around $0.102 (102 US$/MWh).
In 2013, Ormat signed a Build, Operate, and Transfer(BOT) contract with Electricidad de Cortés (Elcosa), a
privately owned Honduran energy company, for about
15 years from the commercial operation date. In
December 2015, Ormat concluded the drilling activity
and extensive tests that support the decision to
construct a 35MW project, one larger than initiallyestimated.
Sources:
http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/the-firstgeothermal-power-plant-in-honduras-starts-operations/,
http://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/1107644410/operaciones-platanares-planta-geotermica-honduras

Latin America: 8 Projects to
Be Granted by the GDF

Drill rig in the Platanares project. ‘Rig Sky’,photo by Steven Fercho, GRC 2017 Photocontest.
This is the first project of its kind operated in Honduras
by Geotérmica Platanares, SA de CV (Geoplatanares)
and its parent company, Ormat Technologies, Inc.
Luis Fernando Suazo, consultant and expert on energy
issues, said the project will bring tremendous economic
benefits to the national electrical power company(ENEE: Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica) and greatly
improve the quality of energy services in the westernregion of the country, especially Santa Rosa de Copánand Ocotepeque.
Suazo indicated that the Platanares plant is undergoing
final tests and expects to have a certificate ofcommercial operation by ENEE. “Since the tests began,
the plant went into operation and already adds power tothe interconnected system. The country benefits,” said
the expert. The energy generated by Platanares will bemarketed as part of the 30-year power purchaseagreements signed with the national power company of
Honduras.
www.geothermal-energy.org

On October 3rd, the Geothermal Development Facility
for Latin America (GDF) announced grant awards forthe first call of proposals (see IGA News 108, p. 10). The
results include four Confirmation Drilling Grants
approved for geothermal projects in Colombia (2),Guatemala and Honduras, and four Surface Studies
Grants approved for another projects in Bolivia, Chile,
Ecuador and Guatemala, as it is presented in thefollowing table.
RegionSouth
America
CentralAmericaCountry

Projects

Estimated
Power MW

Colombia

2

115

Chile

1

60

Ecuador1

20

Bolivia

1

15

Guatemala2

55

Honduras

1

20

These awards total an approximate cumulative fundingof 22 million EUR (US$ 26 million) from GDF,
leveraging up to 1.6 billion EUR in future investments
and generating at least 285 MW of projected capacity.
Grant Agreement proceedings will begin immediately
with approved applicants and the GDF looks forward
to a successful round of negotiations. The 2 nd roundshall begin during the 4th quarter of 2017.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
Source: http://gdflac.com/about/press-release/

Mexico: Old Geothermal Well
Flows, Portable Small Power
Plant
Spontaneous Flow of an Old Geothermal Well in
Ixtlán de los Hervores - Several news agencies havereported that the ‘geyser’ at the Ixtlán de los Hervores
geothermal area had reactivated on June 25, 2017; see forexample,https://meganoticias.mx/morelia/noticiasmorelia/27885-atiende-pc-estatal-rebrote-de-geiser-enixtlanixtlan.html.
Actually, the so-called ‘geyser’ is one of a group ofabandoned exploratory wells drilled by CFE in thefifties. In late June, it began discharging a water-steam
mixture, including some solids, creating an about 30 m
column. Gradually the flow diminished, ceasing
completely on July 7, although some noise could still beheard, probably due to subsurface boiling. Because of
the potential danger, a 200 m diameter area around the‘geyser’ was restricted to the public.

17
from 180 to 221°C. Most of the springs are related to
the NW-SE Ixtlán-Encinal fault, which extends for 30
km.
Currently, this area is one of the 13 geothermal zones
for which exploration permits were granted to theComisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) by the Mexican
Energy Ministry. According to the terms of the grant,
the CFE must develop this zone and drill new
exploration wells in the next four years, maximum. Noteby Luis C.A. Gutiérrez-Negrín and Marcelo J. Lippmann.
Portable 500 kW Power Plant Developed in Mexico– The Mexican company, Grupo Enal, has recently
developed a portable, easy-to-install, distributedgeneration plant that can be fitted on exploratory wells
to start production before a main geothermal plant isfinished.
Gerardo Hiriart, Director General of the company, said,“High costs are involved in geothermal, a 100MW[geothermal] project can cost up to US$300 million. Of
that price, almost half is for the central power producing
unit, 40 percent for the development of the wells, 5
percent for the exploration phase, and 5 percent forengineeringandmanagement.”

Geothermal projects cantake several years to beconstructed. During those
years, developers must
continue injecting capital.
Meanwhile,thegeothermal energy that
could be used just sits
there,
unproductive.
Photographic sequence of the flow of the well in Ixtlán. Left, the column on June
Hiriart says Enal’s plant
25; right, on July 7. Photo taken from a report by Garduño et al. (2017).
offers a solution. “Wecame to this solution
Chemical analyses of the solids ejected by the wellwhile working for a producer that needed to startdetected the presence of calcite (CaCO3). It is probablegenerating energy to support the development of its
the old well had been plugged by carbonates.
geothermal projects. Our client was considering either
diesel generators or solar roofing. However, we decided
The discharge/reactivation of the well was most likely
to take advantage of the existing geothermal resource
related to the infiltration of rain water into the aquifer
placed there. After some engineering, we created thefeeding the well. When the water came into contact with
first geothermal plant for distributed generation with a
hot subsurface rocks, it began to boil, over-pressurizing
production capacity of 20kW.” After further engineering
the producing layer. The increased pressures removed
and hard work, Enal has now developed a 500 kW
deposits obstructing the well pipe, expelling them along
geothermal portable power plant that is ready to bewith the fluids. Gradually, the pipe was plugged again bytested under real-life conditions.
carbonate deposits, stopping the flow.
Ixtlán de los Hervores is located in the northeastern
portion of the Mexican State of Michoacán, at anelevation of 1530 meters above sea level. There are hotsprings and wells with temperatures ranging from 85 to
90°C. The chemical composition of the waters is
sodium-chloride to sodium-bicarbonate. Corresponding,average, deep-geothermometers temperatures range
www.geothermal-energy.org

This portable plant can be used to start what Hiriart
calls pre-production, a phase in which a small amount ofenergy is produced—while characterizing the wells in
real-time by acquiring data such as pressure,temperature, enthalpy and pH. This additional data
allows for an easier engineering phase. The electricenergy produced in pre-production can be either used
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
by the project developer or sold to the grid under the
distributed generation scheme, therefore helping project
developers economically.
For now, Hiriart wants to prove the concept with thehelp of project-development companies. “Our idea forthis phase is to find a partner that is developing a well,and offer our 500kW plant as a power-producing unitthat will also help characterize the well while the main
power plant is being built. In this way, project
developers can start selling energy months or even years
before the plant is fully operational. Turkey is among
the countries that is highly interested in participatingwith Enal in this testing phase,” he said.
In the future, Hiriart wants to use the plant to bring
distributed energy to remote places where the use ofother energies is not feasible.
The project was recently awarded the PRODETESGold Prize (‘Premio Oro’) in a ceremony held on
September 14 in Mexico City, within the framework of
the events MEXIREC 2017 (see separate note) and
DEMEX (Diálogos Estratégicos para el Futuro de la Energía
en México). PRODETES is the acronym of Proyecto de
Desarrollo de Tecnologías de Energía Sustentable (Project ofDevelopment of Sustainable Energy Technologies), andis promoted annually by Mexico’s Ministry of Energy(SENER), the World Bank, and the Global
Environment Facility (GEF).
The goal of the prize is to promote development ofclean energy technologies through economic incentives
for innovative proposals from companies, universities,
research center and/or entrepreneurs.
This was the second time the prize was awarded. The
project was submitted by Enal (Energías Alternas,
Estudios y Proyectos, SA de CV) and the University of
Guanajuato, who received US$2 million.
Sources:
http://www.renewableenergymexico.com/geothermal-

18
to-go/, https://www.gob.mx/sener/prensa/seanuncian-los-ganadores-del-premio-prodetes-2017

United States: DDU Studies,
Newberry, Play Fairway,
Patua, Project Cancelled,
Calpine, Eclipse, Lithium
Extraction, New Plant,
Supercritical Fluids
DOE Announces Funds for DDU Feasibility
Studies - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
announced in early July up to US$4 million in funding
for six geothermal Deep Direct-Use (DDU) research
projects to conduct feasibility studies of large scale, lowtemperature, deep-well geothermal systems andcascaded surface technologies. The projects will extend
the reach of geothermal energy into previously untapped
regions of the country.
DDU is an emerging technology that has been
underused in the U.S., and if feasible, could deliver
direct geothermal energy from lower-temperature
resources across the country. It is expected to use lowtemperature, thermal resources in subsurface reservoirs
in U.S. regions lacking conventional hydrothermal
resources. DDU wells used to directly power buildings
would be deeper than ground source heat pumpboreholes and shallower than wells used for enhanced
geothermal systems created for electrical generation.
On a large scale, DDU applications can possibly be used
to replace conventional district heating and coolingsystems in military installations, hospital complexes,
office buildings, hotels, and other large energy endusers. The DOE defines large-scale as a spaceconditioning area greater than 10,000 square feet (929m2) or having an annual thermal-energy demand equal
to or more than 125 million British Thermal Units(MMBTU). The goal is to significantly expand the reachof geothermal energy into
geologically distinct parts of thecountry. Using relatively lowtemperatures, direct-geothermalenergy has the potential todiversify the nation’s energy
supply, help meet environmental
goals, and provide cost-effective,
renewable thermal energy inlarge portions of the U.S.

Enal’s 500 kW Portable Power Plant. Photo by Grupo Enal.
www.geothermal-energy.org

A U.S. Geological Survey
assessment estimates that 46,000
MWth of total beneficial heat isavailablefromgeothermal
resources below 90°C (~195°
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
Farenheit) in the U.S. DDU promotes large scale,commercially viable systems that optimize the value
stream of lower-temperature resources through acascade of uses.
The research teams who have been selected represent a
range of partners who will share the cost of performing
the feasibility analysis with DOE. The organizations
receiving awards include Cornell University (Ithaca,
New York), National Renewable Energy Laboratory(Golden, Colorado), Portland State University (Portland,
Oregon), Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque,
New Mexico), University of Illinois (Champagne,
Illinois, and West Virginia University Energy Institute(Morgantown, West Virginia).
Source: https://energy.gov/eere/articles/energydepartment-announces-4-million-geothermal-deepdirect-use-feasibility-studies

19
Newberry Volcano represents one of the mostpromising geologic settings for geothermal power in theWest, where super-hot rock could produce a high yieldof stable, baseline electric power production that –unlike other renewable energy sources– doesn’t varywith sunlight, wind, or wave conditions”.
The site has been studied for 40 years and millions ofdollars have been invested there by the U.S. Departmentof Energy and private geothermal developers, resulting
in a ready-to-use facility with the necessary
infrastructure,environmental
permits,
landcommitments, and monitoring plans.
An idle geothermal exploration well drilled in 2008, at
3500 meters depth, reached temperatures of 320°C.
Researchers are evaluating plans to deepen the wellanother 1500 meters to reach temperatures above
450°C.

Workshop to Explore Drilling
Project at Newberry Volcano An international group ofgeoscience experts convened in
Bend, Oregon, on September 1014 to develop a proposal for
drilling one of the hottest wellsin the world at Newberry
Volcano in central Oregon. Morethan 40 scientists and engineers
met at the Oregon State
University-Cascades campus in
Bend to explore options for thegeothermal energy project, as
well as potentials for funding.
The workshop was sponsored by
the International Continental
Image source: http://www.newberrygeothermal.com/site/.
Drilling Program, a non-profit
organization that supports international science teams
The workshop was attended by scientists and engineers
pursuing land-based drilling.
with expertise in geothermal energy, high-temperaturedrilling, seismology, and volcanology from the U.S.,
The event was organized and coordinated by the
Canada, Japan, Norway, Iceland, France, and Italy.
NEWGEN consortium, which was formed in 2015 byPacific Northwest National Laboratory, AltaRock
Source: http://osucascades.edu/news/septemberEnergy, Oregon State University, and Statoil to develop
workshop-set-explore-drilling-project-newberry-volcano
a research observatory on geothermal energy at
GTO Announces Play Fairway Analysis Phase III
Newberry Volcano.
Selections - The U.S. Department of Energy’s
The Newberry Geothermal Test Facility, located on the
Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) announced it
western flank of the caldera rim of Newberry Volcano,will continue funding five projects aligned with Phaseis one of the largest geothermal heat reservoirs in the
III Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) activities. The GTO will
Western United States. Hot rock is relatively close to theaward up to US$5 million in additional funding to fivesurface at the site, making it easier to drill super-hotof the original 11 projects from the 2014 PFA Funding
wells and carry out enhanced geothermal system
Opportunity Announcement. The awards will address
research, according to Adam Schultz, an OSU geologist
the overarching theme of uncertainty quantification andand geophysicist involved with the effort.
reduction in geothermal exploration, specificallythrough the development of Geothermal Play Fairways.
“There is enormous geothermal energy potential in the
United States, with the greatest concentration of
resources in the West,” Schultz said. “Our test site atwww.geothermal-energy.org

The concept of ‘play fairway analysis’ has been used to
identify potential locations of blind hydrothermal
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
systems in the western U.S. A play fairway analysis
defines levels of uncertainty with respect to the presence
and utility of geothermal system elements, translatingthem into maps to high-grade the geographic area overwhich the most favorable combinations of heat,
permeability, and fluid are thought to exist. Phase III
moves the projects into an exploratory drilling campaignthat will test the Phase I and II models’ abilities todiscover new resources. Once identified, hydrothermal
resources can be brought online quickly with current
technologies, supporting the near-term expansion ofrenewable energy in America.
This systematic approach early in the exploration
process can reduce costly drilling and improve theprobability of successfully tapping the vital mix of hightemperatures and sufficient water flows necessary to
generate electricity from geothermal energy. By
improving the success rates for exploration drilling, thisdata mapping tool will help attract investment in
geothermal projects and significantly lower the costs ofgeothermal energy.
The selected Phase III awardees are:1) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of
Nevada‐Reno – Reno, Nevada
2) Utah State University – Logan, Utah
3) University of Hawaii – Honolulu, Hawaii4) University of Utah - EGI Great Basin – Salt Lake

NEW SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL ENDORSED BY
THE IGA

20
City, Utah
5) Washington Division of Geology and Earth
Resources – Olympia, Washington
Source:https://energy.gov/eere/geothermal/articles/geotherm
al-technologies-office-announces-play-fairway-analysisphase-iii
Drilling in Nevada’s Play Fairway Project - The
University of Nevada, Reno, received funding to begin
drilling geothermal test wells in the final phase of amulti-year research project to refine exploration
strategies and reduce the risks in developing new
geothermal systems capable of producing commercial
electricity in Nevada’s Great Basin.
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced funding
for the continuation of the Nevada Play Fairway
Project, which seeks to find geographic areas overwhich the most favorable combinations of heat,
permeability and fluid are thought to exist, but noobvious surface signs would indicate an undergroundgeothermal reservoir. Known as ‘blind’ or ‘hidden’
geothermal systems, they are thought to represent thebulk of the region’s geothermal resources. These blind
systems don’t have wet marshy areas or other surface
clues, such as hot springs or fumaroles spouting steam.
Phase III moves the project into an exploratory drilling
campaign that will test the ability of the models
developed in Phase I and II to discover new resources.
The University, through their Nevada Bureau of Minesand Geology, received US$1.5 million from the DOE tofinish the third and final phase of the renewable energy
project.
The Play Fairway project, administered by the DOE’s
Geothermal Technologies Office, has the promise ofyielding significant results to target geothermal well sites
with temperatures greater than 130 degrees Celsius, thetypical temperature for a productive well to produce
electricity. The project seeks to identify new,economically viable geothermal systems in the state of
Nevada.
“There is potential in the Great Basin for much greater
amounts of geothermal energy than the current 670 MW
produced from the 25 power plants already in place,”
said Jim Faulds, lead scientist on the project anddirector of the University’s Nevada Bureau of Minesand Geology. “The geothermal wealth of this region canbe attributed to its active faulting that allows hot fluids
to rise more quickly to levels accessible through drilling.
The Play Fairway project can potentially provide a
catalyst for accelerating geothermal development in theregion.”TAKE A LOOK HERE.

“Due to its tectonic setting, Nevada is richly endowed ingeothermal resources,” continued Faulds. “Howeverwww.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
many of the obvious sites, for example ones nearsurface hot springs, have already been discovered.
Because most of the geothermal resources in the GreatBasin region are blind, it’s important to characterize thefavorable characteristics of the known systems and usethat information to discover new systems hidden
beneath the surface.”
The Play Fairway Project began in 2015 with themapping and analysis of a 40,000 square mile section of
the Nevada Great Basin that identified a few hundred
viable sites for geothermal activity using nine criticalparameters. In the second phase of the study, Faulds
and his team –which includes several other faculty
members plus university graduate and undergraduate
students– scoured the geothermal potential map andnarrowed the study to 24 of the most promising sites inseveral areas. These were further narrowed down to five
particularly promising areas. Evidence was found forcommercial-grade geothermal systems at all five sites.
Phase III will test the methodologies by drilling wells at
two or possibly three of the sites.

21“We look forward to continuing to work with Empoweron other solar projects to support our geothermal
activities in the U.S.” said Nick Goodman, CEO of
Cyrq Energy.
The Patua Geothermal Power Plant produces up to
25MW of geothermal energy, sold to the Sacramento
Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Apparently, bothplants (solar and geothermal) are operating
independently from each other, so it is not a hybrid
project where the solar array pre-heats the geothermal
steam to improve its yielding, like the Stillwater plant
operated by Enel.

To choose the final drilling sites, the team noted theirproximity to existing electrical transmission corridors,
excluded sensitive habitat and wilderness areas, andreviewed permeability factors and other geological,
geophysical, and geochemical features indicative ofgeothermal activity.
“In Phase III, we’ll drill to test the methodologies thatwe’ve used in the first two phases,” Faulds said. “We’llbe drilling temperature gradient wells to see if we have
hot water from about 500 to 750 feet deep (~150 to 230m). Full development of a geothermal system usuallyrequires drilling to much greater depths (a mile or more)
and is much more expensive. However the presence ofcommercial-grade systems can usually be identified at
500 to 750 feet deep. If proven effective, the play
fairway methodology can be adopted by companies that
can invest more confidently in exploration anddevelopment.” The team expects to deliver its final
report in March 2019.
Source: http://www.energycentral.com/news/drillingbegin-university%E2%80%99s-great-basin-geothermalexploration-project
Solar Plant Added to Patua Geothermal Power
Plant in Nevada - Empower Energies, Inc., announced
the completion of the Patua solar power project, a
14.5MW DC solar array in Churchill County, Nevada.
The project supplements an existing geothermal power
plant owned by Cyrq Energy. The solar plant wascompleted by late July, ahead of schedule and underbudget–according to the Empower press release. The
solar equipment includes about 45,360 photovoltaic(PV) solar panels.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Patua geothermal power plant. Photo by Cyrq
Energy.
Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/newsreleases/empower-energies-completes-145mw-solarproject-for-cyrq-energy-in-utah-300504605.html,
http://www.cyrqenergy.com/projects/the-patuageothermal-power-plant/
Geothermal Plant Project at Salton Sea Cancelled
by CalEnergy - CalEnergy, owned by Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway Energy, asked the California
Energy Commission earlier this summer to terminate its
license for Black Rock. The company had requested andreceived extensions of the construction start deadline in2007, 2011 and 2014, but this time decided to move on
rather than pay a US$27,678 annual compliance fee thatwould have been due at the end of June.
The Black Rock geothermal plant was initially approvedfor development about 14 years ago, which would havetapped into a large geothermal reservoir at the Salton
Sea in California. It was never built and now the plug
has been pulled. Many challenges must be overcome
when developing geothermal power projects in theImperial Valley.
The initial license, secured in 2003, covered thedevelopment of a single, 215MW geothermal power
plant. When the plan was modified in 2009 to three
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
smaller units generating a total of 159MW, the project
found it difficult to secure financing and to secure aPower Purchase Agreement from a utility.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/geothermalplant-project-at-salton-sea-cancelled-by-warren-buffetsowned-calenergy/
Calpine to Be Sold - Calpine Corporation, a U.S.
power company focused on generating electricity fromnatural gas and geothermal plants, announced it willchange its ownership under a US$5.6-billion deal valued
at more than US$17 billion, including debt.

22
supply of solar energy to the grid. Starting at about 9:15
am, the grid suffered a drop of over 3,000 MW
generated by solar arrays. The power began returning
after 10:17 am as the eclipse waned.
However, geothermal energy was not affected,
continuing to generate just under 1,000 MW to the gridmanaged by the California Independent System
Operator (CAISO).
Source:https://geothermalresourcescouncil.blogspot.in/2017/0
8/usa-california-solar-eclipse-geothermal.html

The private equity and credit investment firm of Energy
Capital Partners (ECP), and a group of investors led byAccess Industries and Canada Pension Plan Investment
Board (CPPIB), have agreed to buy Calpine for US$
15.25 per share, in cash. The price is a roughly a 51%
premium to Calpine’s unaffected share price on May 9,
2017.
Under the terms of the deal, Calpine had 45 days to seek
and evaluate superior proposals, but will need to pay a
US$142 million fee to the investor consortium if thisprocess leads to signing a deal with another party, or
only US$65 million if a deal is inked with certain
exempted persons.
“This transaction is the result of an exhaustive review ofstrategic alternatives undertaken by our Board, with theassistance of outside advisors, to maximize shareholder
value and unlock the company’s intrinsic value, whileeliminating execution risk,” said Frank Cassidy,
chairman of Calpine’s board of directors.
In addition to natural gas-fired plants, Calpine operates
13 geothermal steam turbine-based facilities in theworld’s largest geothermal field, The Geysers, located in
Northern California. These geothermal power stations
have a combined generating capacity of about 725MW,
or 634.1MW net. The company has one solar
photovoltaic (PV) park.
Tyler Reeder, a partner at ECP, said the buyers do notplan to make changes to the way Calpine operates its
business, its financial policy, or the previously
announced US$2.7 billion deleveraging plan. The
company will also keep its current headquarters in
Houston, Texas, and its management team.
The transaction is pending regulatory and stockholder
approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of
2018. It is not subject to a financing condition.
Source: https://renewablesnow.com/news/natural-gasand-geothermal-co-calpine-to-be-sold-in-usd-56bn-deal580255/
Eclipse and Power Generation in California Although Northern California didn’t experience a total
solar eclipse on August 21, the eclipse did affect the
www.geothermal-energy.org

Geothermal energy, marked by the grey line, helps makeup for the loss in solar, the yellow line in supplying
renewable energy to the California grid (Taken from thesource).
MOU on Joint Lithium Extraction and Geothermal
Power Project in Nevada - Dajin Resources Corp.
announced it has signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) with Geothermal Development
Associates (GDA), Reno, Nevada. GDA is a geothermal
development corporation with geothermal leases in the
Teels Marsh Valley, Nevada, that overlies Dajin’s placer
claims. GDA’s principle line of business is thedevelopment of geothermal resources for electricalgeneration. As a result of the MOU, GDA and Dajin
will share exploration data with the aim of supporting
the development of a lithium brine extraction facility
and developing a geothermal plant for electricalgeneration and the production of direct-use thermal
water. The agreement outlines a non-competitive
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
relationship where both companies are focusing on their
key strengths, while working together on their
exploration program during development.
Key attractions of Dajin’s Teels Marsh valley lithium
brine project include the identification of near-surface,lithium-bearing brines that been granted water rights
and have minimal land fragmentation. The basin
beneath the playa is up to 8,200 feet (2,500 meters)
deep. Prior geothermal exploration results indicate
favorable geochemistry and shallow sub-surface
temperatures of up to 206°F (97°C) at 131 feet (40meters) deep at the northwestern end of the valley. In
March, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management accepted
Dajin’s notice to proceed with civil works and drilling aspart of its exploration for lithium brines.
In further news, Dajin Resources announced that it hassigned a non-binding MOU with Enirgi Group
Corporation, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thisfirm has developed a new, efficient, cost effective
technology for extracting lithium carbonates fromlithium bearing brines using its Direct Extraction
Process Technology (DXP Technology). With thistechnology, the use of invasive, solar evaporation-pond
networks is not required. Through their Innovation
Division, based in Sydney, Australia, Enirgi Group is in
the final stages of commissioning a commercial-scale,demonstration plant capable of producing one ton per
day of battery grade lithium carbonate from theirflagship lithium project at the Salar del Rincón locatedin the Province of Salta, Argentina. The MOU gives
Dajin exclusive access to the Enirgi Group’s DXP
Technology and future processing facilities constructedin the United States.

23
proposed by Turboden allows the nominal output toincrease to 13.7MW and the design up to 15.2MW. Theenergy produced is expected to reach 91.6 GWh, with aturbine, isentropic efficiency of about 90% (including allof the stage losses). The plant design will maximize theyearly production per site ambient conditions, with an
expected, efficiency de-rating of 1% during summer
operation and 4% during winter operation.
The plant is currently under construction and it isplanned to be operating in the first quarter of 2019.
Source: https://www.turboden.com/press/pressreleases/1961/turboden-first-geothermal-power-plantin-the-us-for-cyrq-energy-inc
Project
Demonstrating
Geothermal
Power
Generation Using Supercritical Fluids Set to Begin- GreenFire Energy announced that it has selected
Veizades & Associates to serve as the ProjectManagement team for the world’s first fielddemonstration of closed-loop geothermal power
generation.
Funded in part by a grant by the California Energy
Commission, this project will be conducted incollaboration with the Coso Operating Company near
Ridgecrest California. The purpose of the project is todemonstrate the ability of GreenFire’s proprietary
ECO2G™ technology to allow an unused marginal wellto supplement generation. The project is slated to becompleted by October 2018. GreenFire Energy isproprietary of the ECO2G™ technology that allows
access to extremely large, hot and deep geothermal
resources that have been previously unreachable.
ECO2G’s modular scalable architecture fully exploits

Sources: http://dajin.ca/files/aug-23-2017-dajin-pressrelease-1.pdf, http://www.dajin.ca/files/pressreleases/september-7-2017-enirgi-dajin-mou-pressrelease-final-2.pdf
New Plant to Be Built in New Mexico - Turboden, agroup company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI),
signed an order with Cyrq Energy Inc. for the supply of
an ORC turbo-generator that uses geothermal brines
from existing wells to generate electricity.
Lightning Dock Geothermal HI-01 is located in the
Animas Valley of southwestern New Mexico, in Hidalgo
County. In 2013, a first 4MW plant was manufactured
to deliver electricity to Public Service Company of New
Mexico, with plans to further enlarge it to 10MW. Due
to performance difficulties related to availability andefficiency of the existing plant, the second phase of thedevelopment was never completed.
Now, Lightning Dock Geothermal –owned by Cyrq
Energy— has chosen Turboden to design and supply anew, more efficient plant that can guarantee theadditional electricity. The use of a single axial turbine aswww.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
deep geothermal resources to provide grid-scale power
generation. According to the company, ECO2G also
provides continuous yet flexible power that quickly
responds to the grid’s dynamically changing power.
Chris Ellis, General Manager of Coso Operating
Company, stated “GreenFire’s technology presents a
unique and viable approach toward producing energy
from underground heat sources like we have at the
Coso project, so we are an enthusiastic sponsor of thisproject.”
Source:https://geothermalresourcescouncil.blogspot.is/2017/0
9/USA-California-geothermal.html

ASIA/PACIFIC RIM
China: Two New Geothermal
Fields, and HDR Project inGonghe Basin
Two Geothermal Fields Found on the Pamir
Plateau – After an eight-year survey, two geothermal
fields have been identified on the Pamir Plateau innorthwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region. One field at Quman village in Tashkurgan Tajik
Autonomous County, covers eight square kilometers,
noted Wang Hong, deputy chief engineer of the regional
department of land and resources.
“Analysis of geological structure, temperature andpressure show that the Quman field can promise stableyields for more than 100 years,” Wang said.
Another field covering seven square kilometers of lowtemperature geothermal resources was also found in the
county, suitable for hot spring therapy and leisurepursuits.
Tashkurgan, on the Pamir Plateau, endures long, harsh
winters. The local government usually imports coalfrom Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, and Aksu Prefecture athigh cost. Winter heating has always been aheavy burden for the residents.

24
opportunities for local entrepreneurs.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/201707/24/c_136468440.htm
Well Finds 236°C at 3705 Meters in HDR Project Chinese scientists have extracted 236°C hot dry rock(HDR) from a well 3,705 meters deep in the Gonghebasin in China’s northwestern Qinghai province,
according to the state-owned broadcaster, CCTV,
through its official Wechat account in early September.
This marks the first time a hot dry rock mass has been
penetrated in China. It is a significant breakthrough forthe country’s HDR exploration.
China holds 856 trillion tons of hot dry rock, about thesame as the U.S., said a spokesperson for the Geological
Survey of China’s Ministry of Land and Resources.
Some 2 percent of the reserves, or 17 trillion tons, areconsidered recoverable.
The nation’s southeastern coastal areas, Songliao Plainin the northeast, North China Plain, and the QinghaiTibet Plateau region are key potential areas for
exploration and development. The southern plateau, inparticular, is said to hold the largest volume of resources
with the highest temperatures.
Source: https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chinaslandmark-extraction-hot-dry-rock-could-accelerate-itsgeothermal-energy-development

United Arab Emirates: First
Geothermal Exploration
SurveyA research study is looking at the potential use ofgeothermal energy as a new source of clean andrenewable energy for the UAE. The project, which is
being undertaken by researchers at UAE University(UAEU), has studied geological sites in both Al Ayn and
Ras Al Khaimah, examining the hot water spring
reservoirs and analyzing their temperatures and sizes.

In 2010 Xinjiang began to explore
geothermal resources in Tashkurgan,
spending 48 million yuan (US$7 million) on
the survey.
The department estimates that the Quman
field could provide heating for 12,000
residents, reducing heating costs by 30
million yuan each year.
Hot springs in the low-temperature field
could become a profitable tourist resort,creating
jobs
forresidents
andwww.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109“This project started in January of this year (2017) withthe goal of understanding the possibility of using
geothermal energy in the UAE. We wanted to study thegeothermal areas, gathering as much data as possible,”
explained Dr Hakim Saibi, associate professor ofgeophysics at UAEU, and one of the project
researchers.
“Geothermal sites in Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah werevisited and different types of surveys were made in theareas. The surveys included a magnetic survey, themeasurement of the magnetic field in the area. It allows
us to understand the geological structure of the site,” headded.
“The second thing we did was to collect and sample thewater in these places. The water was analyzed in thelaboratories, giving us important information about
their chemistry and helping us to understand theirtemperatures,” he said.
The information collected from site visits revealed thewater temperatures located in the groundwater
reservoirs reached around 120 degrees Celsius, and thereservoirs were 3km deep. According to Dr Saibi, thefindings pointed to the possibility of tapping geothermalenergy in the UAE.

25
the world’s largest power plants, located in Indonesia’s
North Sumatra.
The Sarulla power plant includes three units ofapproximately 110 MW each, utilizing both steam andbrine extracted from the geothermal field to increase thepower plant’s efficiency. SIL, the first unit of the power
plant, commenced commercial operation on March 17,2017 and is performing well. The second unit, NIL 1,
has completed successfully its testing and commenced
operations on October 2, 2017 selling additional 110
MW to the state-owned Indonesian power company PT
Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) under a 30 years
Energy Sales Contract. Sarulla power plant is operated
by Sarulla Operations Ltd. (SOL). The third unit, NIL 2,
is under construction and SOL expects the unit tocommence operation in 2018.
SOL is a consortium composed of Medco Energi
Internasional Tbk, Inpex Corporation, Itochu
Corporation, Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc., andOrmat subsidiary that hold 12.75% equity interest.

“The potential for using geothermal energy is good.
Based on our findings and the data gathered at the sites,
we can produce around 1,000MW using the geothermalenergies from these areas,” he said.
Dr Saibi noted the next stage of the project will see all
their findings published in a respected, scientific journal.
The published results will provide crucial data for any
organization perhaps wishing to build a power plant on
the sites in the near future.
“Even if we are not going to start using geothermalenergy tomorrow, just having this research and data
available is helpful, because it means we can start towork on getting to the point where we do finally use
geothermal energy,” he added.

Source:http://investor.ormat.com/file/Index?KeyFile=390588
153

Indonesia: Sarulla,
Governmental Fund, Auction,
Assignment of WKP, andGeothermal Expectations

Governmental Fund to Finance Geothermal
Exploration Drilling - Indonesia has laid thegroundwork for a US$270 million fund to financegeothermal exploration as part of the country’s efforts
to boost renewable sources of energy. The government
has allocated Rp 3 trillion (US$224 million) in the 2017
state budget for the so-called Government Drilling
Fund, which will be used to finance geothermal
exploration around Indonesia. The World Bank will alsochip in with a US$55.25 million loan to shore up thefund.

Second Unit of Sarulla Started Commercial
Operation - The second unit of the Sarulla geothermal
power plant, with 110 MW of installed capacity, started
its commercial operation in October 2 nd, according to apress release by Ormat Technologies Inc. This is one ofSaranaMulti
Infrastruktur,
thegovernment’s
infrastructure investment arm, will be responsible formanaging the fund under the supervision of the
Ministries of Finance and Energy. Rida Mulyana,
director general of renewable energy and energy

Source:http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/environment/studyexplores-geothermal-energy-option-for-uae-1.2078798

www.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources, said the fund will help reduce exploration
risks borne by geothermal producers.
Under the scheme, the government will conduct asurvey of potential geothermal resources and drill
exploration wells, activities that are usually capitalintensive. “So now, the risk in the exploration stage will
be borne by the state,” Rida said. “The IPP[independent power producers] just need to take over
the already proven resources... they just need to pay thecost of exploration, to be used again by the government
for other explorations,” he added.
Yunus Saefulhak, director for geothermal at the Energy
Ministry, said his ministry and the Ministry of Financeare working on an agreement to establish a geothermal
exploration committee. The committee will consist of
officials from of the Energy Ministry, Geological
Agency and the Finance Ministry. “The committee will
be responsible for ensuring that the fund is used in an
accountable and measurable way,” Yunus said.

26
This year, Indonesia will add an additional 215MW
capacity from the Sarulla geothermal power plant inNorth Sumatra, 30MW from Karaha in West Java,
20MW from Sorik Marapi in North Sumatra and 55MW
from Ulubelu Unit 4 in Lampung.
Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-toauction-off-geothermal-power-projects-worth-1b/
Assignment of Geothermal Working Areas – During
the 5th Indonesia International Geothermal Convention& Exhibition (IIGCE) in Jakarta, the Indonesian Vice
President witnessed the signing of a memorandum of
understanding and the assignment of Geothermal
Working Areas (WKP) to developers. The areas include:- Mount Arjuno Wilerang in East Java with a capacity of
110MW and Telomoyo Temple of Central Java with acapacity of 55MW, assigned to PT Geo Dipa Energi(Persero).
Installations of PT Geo Dipa Energi. Photo by Reuters.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/govt-laysgroundwork-geothermal-exploration-fund/Auction for Six Geothermal Projects - Thegovernment has started to auction off six geothermal
projects worth US$1.02 billion in September. This will
expand Indonesia’s renewable energy capacity as part ofits plan to become the world’s largest geothermal
producer by 2021.
Local companies and foreign investors from the UnitedStates, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and China
have expressed interest in the projects, which will have a
combined capacity of 255MW.
“This auction is quite attractive, but we have to wait for
the result because the auction process usually takes four
to five months,” said Yunus Saefulhak, geothermal
director at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources.
The projects are Kapahiang in Bengkulu with a capacityof 110MW, Simbolon Samosir in North Sumatra with
110MW, Borapulu in Central Sulawesi with 10MW,
Lamiding in North Maluku with 10MW and Oka Ile
Ange and Mount Sirung in East Nusa Tenggara withcapacities of 10MW and 5MW, respectively.
“The amount of investment in each geothermal region
varies, depending on the region and local conditions.
But on average, the investment for geothermal
development is around US$4 million per megawatt,”
Yunus said.
Indonesia expects to have a total geothermal capacity of
3,559.5MW within the next four years. The country’s
total geothermal capacity amounted to 1,643.5MW lastyear.
www.geothermal-energy.org- Atadei with a capacity of 10MW, Songa Wayaua inNorth Maluku with 10MW and Gunung Tangkuban
Parahu, West Java, with 60MW capacity, all assigned to
PT PLN (Persero).
- Ratai in Lampung with a capacity of 55MW assigned
to PT-Enel Green Power Optima Way Ratai.
- Gunung Lawu in Central Java and East Java with acapacity of 110MW—involving PT PGE Lawu.
- Gunung Talang-Bukit Kili in West Sumatra with acapacity of 20MW—involving PT Hitay Daya Energy.
For his part, the Director of Strategic Procurement PT
PLN (Persero), Nicke Widyawati, said Persero hasreceived US$640 million from PT Sarana Multi
Infrastruktur (SMI), to find the source of geothermal
steam and build a PLTP. “Six WKP already have theassignment and the decision letter has been received,”
he said. Among them are the aforementioned Atadei,
Songa Wayaua, and Gunung Tangkuban Parahu.
The loan for PLN comes from the SMI-managed
Geothermal Fund. The fund total is only Rp 3.8 trillion
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

27(US$ 282 million). The monies come from the State
Budget (APBN), worth Rp 3.1 trillion (US$230 million),and the World Bank at Rp 711 billion ($US53 million).
After obtaining the loan funds, PLN will conduct
further survey and drilling activities.
In addition, PLN is preparing the development of eight
other WKP, and plans to have a third party become amember of the consortium.
Sources: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/several-newgeothermal-working-areas-assigned-in-indonesia/,
http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/pln-receives-640mfor-geothermal-development-of-six-projects-indonesia/
Indonesia Expects to Become World’s Largest
Geothermal Producer in 2021 – Head of Bureau ofCommunications, Public Information Service, andCooperation at Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy andMineral Resources, Dadan Kusdiana, said thisprojection can occur with the growing installed capacityof geothermal power plants that increases rapidly fromyear to year.
“Based on our analysis, Indonesia’s geothermal capacity
will beat the world’s largest geothermal power
producers, the United States and the Philippines, by
2021,” Dadan said in Jakarta in early September.
Next year, Indonesia will surpass the Philippines tobecome the world’s second largest geothermal energy
user in the world by generating geothermal electricity of2023.5MW through the addition of capacities from
Sarulla Geothermal Power Plant (2 x 110MW), Karaha
Geothermal Plant (30MW), Sorik Marapi Geothermal
Plant (2 x 20MW) and Lumut Balai Geothermal Plant(55MW).
Based on the constructed roadmap, Indonesia will
become the world’s largest geothermal energy producing
country, defeating the United States in 2021 withgeothermal electricity capacity reaching 3559.5 MW.
Currently, the utilization of geothermal energy for the
purposes of new power generation is 1698.5MW or
about 10 percent of the existing reserves.
In fact, as many as 331 geothermal potential locations
that have spread in the territory of Indonesia are very

strategic for investments and meet national energy needsin accordance with the National Energy Policy (KEN).
“We have 17,506 MW of geothermal reserves and11,073 MW of resources but have not been optimized,
so it is an opportunity for investors to meet the nationalenergy needs,” said Dadan.
Source:http://www.en.netralnews.com/news/business/read/1
1059/indonesia.expected.to.become.world...s.largest.geo
thermal.producer.in.2021

Philippines: Better Permitting
Process, Critical Proposed
Law, and EDC
Executive Order 30 Will Shorten Permitting for

Significant Power Projects - Industry players will now
only need 30 days —from the current 1,340 days— tosecure the necessary permits and licenses to start a bigticket power project, thanks to Executive Order (EO)
30 issued by President Duterte on June 30.
The EO 30 states concerned government agencies shallact upon applications for permits involving Energy
Projects of National Significance (EPNS) not exceedinga 30-day period. If no decision is made within thespecified processing time frame, the application isdeemed approved by the concerned agency.
“It is the policy of the state to ensure a continuous,adequate, and economic supply of energy. Hence, anefficient and effective administrative process for energy
projects of national significance should be developed to
avoid unnecessary delays in the implementation of thePhilippine Energy Plan [PEP],” the EO 30 said.
According to Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the
Senate Committee on Energy, it takes 1,340 days tosecure a permit, 329 signatures to sign the permits, and74 agencies are involved, including the Department ofEnergy (DOE). “This is only for the predevelopment
stage, which is apart from building the power plant,”
Gatchalian said in an interview.
The private sector welcomed the development. “This is

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

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
very promising development. The key is to have theright organization to execute it,” said AC Energy
President, Eric John Francia.
To be considered within the EPNS, power-generation
and-transmission projects must have a capital
investment of at least P3.5 billion (US$69 million); makea significant contribution to the country’s economic
development; have significant, consequential economic
impacts; make a significant, potential contribution to thecountry’s balance of payments; have a significant impact
on the environment; and involve complex, technicalprocesses and engineering designs; and have significant,infrastructure requirements.
The EO also calls for the creation of an Energy
Investment Coordinating Council (EICC) to spearhead
and coordinate national governmental efforts toharmonize, integrate, and streamline regulatory
processes, requirements, and forms relevant to thedevelopment of energy investments in the country. The
council, to be led by the DOE, will maintain a databaseof information and a web-based monitoring system for
information exchange and updates, to upholdtransparency and accountability.
The EICC shall be composed of representatives fromvarious national government agencies and relevantenergy institutions. Within 30 days from the start of theEO, the EICC must prepare rules governing theresolution of interagency issues affecting the timely andefficient implementation of EPNS and other energy
projects.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/eo-cutsred-tape-in-issuance-of-permits-for-power-projects/
Proposed Law Deemed Critical by the National
Geothermal Association - At the 14th Annual General
Assembly of the National Geothermal Association,
Attorney Fernando ‘Ronnie’ Peñarroyo presented
implications
togeothermal
exploration
anddevelopment in the proposed mining engineering
profession bill in the Philippines.
The so-named Mining Engineering Law of thePhilippines was proposed in July 2016 with thefollowing reasoning: “…unauthorized activities havecaused confusion in the Philippine
Mining Industry, particularly among
Registered Mining Engineers, becausesuch activities tend to discriminate
against the majority of Registered
Mining Engineers and eliminate manyof the rights and privileges alreadygranted to them by RA4274 or the
Mining Engineering Act of 1965.”

28
the mining context, and clearly defines ‘geothermal
fluids’ as ‘energy resources’. The bill also requests the
adoption of a “Code of Ethics, Reporting Codes and a
Code of Professional and Technical Standards for thepractice of the Mining Engineering Profession.” Since
the world geothermal sector is developing a major effort
to implement reporting codes and other standards
developed internationally in the context of geothermal
development and reporting, Ronnie makes a clear caseagainst including geothermal in this proposed bill, as it
essentially would stop all creation or work on reporting
codes for the geothermal sector.
He provided some detail on other international
activities. One was the Working Group on globally
applicable harmonized standards for reporting
Geothermal Energy Resources, prepared by the UN
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and theInternational Geothermal Association (IGA).
On behalf of the National Geothermal Association of
the Philippines, Ronnie suggests the bill change Section
4 (b), excluding the term ‘energy resources’ from thedefinition of ‘mine’, and deleting Section 4 (e) thatdefines energy resources and includes geothermal fluids.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/proposedmining-profession-law-in-the-philippines-seen-criticalby-geothermal-sector/
A Third of EDC to Be Acquired by AustralianCompany - Macquarie, a global investment banking
and diversified financial services group headquartered inAustralia, is ramping up its renewable energy
investments by joining with Singapore’s GIC –formerly
known as the Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation— to bid for a one-third stake in theFilipino power producer Energy Development
Corporation (EDC).
The bank’s most powerful division, Macquarie
Infrastructure and Real Assets, has teamed up to lodge
the offer for $US1.3 billion. Macquarie stated it was
keen to add EDC to its renewable energy investments
portfolio and to its experience in the sector.
EDC is the Philippines’ largest producer of geothermalenergy, with 1,169MW delivered to the country. EDC

Ronnie Peñarroyo said the new
proposed bill refers to geothermal in
www.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
also generates electrical energy from hydro and wind
power. The company is considered the second-largest
geothermal firm in the world.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/
macquarie-gic-in-bid-for-filipino-power-produceredc/news-story/

Taiwan: New Feed-in Tariff for
Renewables
Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy (BOE) has set tentative
feed-in tariffs for renewable energy in 2018, lowering
the rates by 11.82-13.45% for PV power and 0.734.61% for wind power.
PV power stations or rooftop systems to be establishedin northern Taiwan will be given an extra 15% increasein feed-in tariffs and those consisting of high-efficiency
PV modules will be entitled for a 6% markup.
The feed-in tariff for geothermal will be 5.1956
NT$/kWh (0.033 US$/kWh), which represents anincrease of 5.11% on 2017 rates.
Before finalizing feed-in tariff rates, BOE will hold apublic hearing to collect opinions from all parties
concerned in early November.
Source:http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170921PD200.ht
ml

29
energy for heating and cooling, as well as for generating
electricity, the EU is funding several research anddemonstration projects. The H2020 and FP7 projects
on geothermal energy address different challenges andresearch areas. The focus lies on the development,
improvement, and demonstration of technologies forshallow and deep geothermal energy exploitation, with
an emphasis on safety, sustainable responsibility, andcost optimization.
The drilling technology used to extract geothermalenergy is one important field of innovation, as it canaccount for up to half of the total expenses required tofund a geothermal project. The projects known as
GEOTech, Cheap-GSHP, and ThermoDrill work on
novel drilling technologies to improve the reliability ofgeothermal systems, facilitate their handling, andenhance the rate of penetration.
Another core area is the performance of wells,
addressed by the projects GeoWell and SURE. GeoWell
develops technologies optimized to complete andmonitor high-temperature geothermal wells. SURE
investigates how to increase the performance ofgeothermal wells with a higher degree of control and aminimized environmental impact compared toconventional stimulation technologies. Finding the rightplace to drill is an emphasis of IMAGE, which enhances
the accuracy of a siting process. DESCRAMBLE also
focuses on site characteristics by targeting hightemperature and pressure conditions with the aim to
demonstrate safe drilling based on best practices fromoil and gas production. All these developments help to

EUROPE
Press Release: Joint Efforts toStrengthen Geothermal
EnergyGeothermal heat is a promising source to enrich andsignificantly contribute to the renewable energy mix in along-term perspective. To foster the use of geothermalenergy in a secure, clean, and efficient way, theEuropean Commission (EC) supports twelve projects
within the Horizon 2020 Programme (H2020) andpursues one project of the former 7 th Framework
Programme (FP7). This brings together almost 20
countries and numerous stakeholders, providing a wide
range of knowledge and expertise to strengthen the useof geothermal energy.
Geothermal energy offers a sheer infinite resource forheat extracted from the underground, combining a
constant and reliable supply with low carbon emissions.
Within the EU, in 2015 geothermal energy contributed
3.1% to the total primary production of renewableenergy. To exploit the full potential of geothermal
www.geothermal-energy.org

Production test at Venelle well, 06/05/2017,
Descramble Project (source:
http://www.descramble-h2020.eu/)
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

30

substantially reduce costs and minimize undesirable
side-effects. Cheap-GSHPS aims to reach these goals in
the context of shallow geothermal systems with anemphasis on public and historical buildings. It strives toraise awareness for geothermal energy technology
throughout Europe.
Other innovations are uncovered by CHPM2030 and
MATChING. CHPM2030 aims to invent a novel andpotentially disruptive technological solution, helping tosatisfy the European need for energy and strategic
metals in a single, interlinked process. Meanwhile,
MATChING aspires to reduce the cooling water
demand in the energy sector through technologicalinnovations to be demonstrated in thermal andgeothermal power plants. The testing of suchdevelopments and the publication of the results are afundamental factor for the success of future
projects. EoCoE investigates a case study for theuse of geothermal energy for city quarters byhigh-performancecomputingsimulations,providing guidelines for incorporating geothermalenergy in the future energy mix. DESTRESS,DEEPEGS, and GEMex will examine advanced
technologies at several geothermal sites withdifferent geological settings. Whereas DESTRESS
demonstrates soft stimulation treatments,
DEEPEGS focuses on innovative technologies tobe deployed in deep wells. GEMex emphasizes
unconventional geothermal systems. A collectionof good practices will be assembled from theoutcomes for public distribution.
The EU funding phase of these ongoinggeothermal projects is four years; it will end in
2020. The results are expected to make a
substantial contribution to the promotion ofgeothermal energy in Europe and beyond.
More information is available: Geothermal
research projects funded by the EU programs:
www.geothermalresearch.eu

Soultz-sous-Forêts in Alsace, on the Upper Rhine
Graben, has particularly good geological conditions for
producing geothermal energy. The temperature
prevailing at a depth of 1000 meters is two and a halftimes the average for central European countries. This
geothermal heat anomaly, the largest in central Europe,is caused by highly fractured rocks at great depth fromwhich thermal waters rise. In the mid-1980s, these
conditions provided the impetus for setting up aEuropean research facility for utilizing the heatcontained in the deep rock, i.e. petrothermal geothermalenergy.

Three wells for the deep reservoir. © BINE Information Service
based on BESTEC 2008 (Source:
http://www.bine.info/en/publications/publikation/deutschfranzoesische-geothermieanlage-vollendet/).

European Commission on geothermal energy:
www.ec.europa.eu/research/energy/eu/index_en.cfm?pg=research-geothermalFrance-Germany: Soultz-sousForêts Commercial Power
Plant Completed
In the Upper Rhine Graben, natural, geological thermal
deposits can be tapped by wells at comparatively low
depths. In a Franco-German research project in Alsace,scientists have been researching the process of utilizing
heat from crystalline rock for years —and have
optimized the concept and technology. At the researchfacility site, two power companies opened a new
www.geothermal-energy.org

commercial power plant in 2016. The electricity is fed
into the French grid. In Germany, around 95% ofgeothermal resources are found in deep rock and 5% innatural, thermal water strata.

The German-French project, in which the European
Union was also involved for a period, investigated thescientific and technical bases for petrothermal
geothermal energy. In 2016, the two energy suppliers,
Electricité de Strasbourg (ES) and EnBW Energie
Baden-Württemberg AG, replaced an old research
power plant in Soultz dating from 2008 with a new
power plant. It is intended to feed about 12 million kWh
into the French electricity grid every year. In France, thefeed-in tariff for geothermal electricity amounts to 22.19
cents/kWh (US$ 0.26/kWh) and is based on the gross
output of the power plant generator minus theelectricity requirement of the ORC power plant. The
power requirement of the production pumps is nottaken into account.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
In 2015, the two energy suppliers, ES and EnBW,
decided to transform the Soultz geothermal power plantfrom a research facility into a commercial operation.
They renewed the entire power generation plant toenable stable, economical operation. The results
obtained during the course of the research phase also
considerably helped in dealing with corrosive salt waterand gaseous thermal waters plus sustainably managing a
geothermal reservoir.
The geothermal heat is converted using a special power
plant process, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). The
new power plant replaces the former research power
plant (2008–2015). Its main focus was to test andoptimize components in conjunction with the
manufacturers. The pilot plant was designed for a wide
range of operating conditions to be used in as manydifferent ways as possible for research.
With the step taken toward commercial use, theoperating parameters and power plant design were thenprecisely defined. The new ORC system operates more
efficiently than the pilot facility and the power plant
entered into regular operation in 2016.
Source:http://www.bine.info/en/publications/publikation/deutsch-franzoesische-geothermieanlage-vollendet/

Germany: New Power Plant in
2019, and Workshop in the
DGK 2017
New 3.4 MWe Power Plant to Be Completed in 2019
in Upper Bavaria - Geothermie Holzkirchen GmbH is awholly owned subsidiary of the Holzkirchen utility. The
town located just south of Munich, in upper Bavaria,
Germany. Geothermie Holzkirchen GmbH originallyplanned to realize a deep geothermal project in 2015, to
feed the local grid of renewable electric energy, and toprovide clean thermal energy for households connectedto the district heating network. In 2017, the company
has chosen Turboden to supply a binary cycle power
plant, including the complete ORC geothermal power
station and its equipment, power plant control system,
construction at site, and commissioning.
The geothermal reservoir is composed of geothermalbrine delivered by a deep geothermal well to generate
electricity and heat for the district heating network.
Turboden will employ a double pressure level process,with a proprietary turbine, process, and air-cooled
condenser. To provide a turnkey solution, a consortium
will be established with the partner company, Th. Arens
Anlagenbau GmbH.
While pure heat geothermal energy projects are lessprofitable during the summer, due to lack of heat
demand, more electricity can be produced in a
www.geothermal-energy.org

31
combined heat and power project in the summer andheat supply in the winter. This means an optimum
economic exploitation of the available geothermal water,
providing the best advantage for the citizens.
The Holzkirchen plant of 3.4MWe is under construction
and is planned to be in operation in first quarter of2019.
Source: https://www.turboden.com/press/pressreleases/1958/turboden-awarded-a-new-geothermalpower-plant-in-germany-for-geothermie-holzkirchengmbh
Crossover Workshop EAGE-IGA-BVG at theGerman Geothermal Congress DGK2017 - As a side
event to the DGK2017, EAGE (European Associationof Geoscientists and Engineers), IGA and BVG(Buderverand Geothermie, the German Geothermal
Association) organized by the first time a scientificcrossover workshop on ‘Detailed exploration ofcarbonate reservoirs’, bringing together experts from thehydrocarbon and the geothermal industry and academia.
Carbonate layers are important geological reservoir
targets in the geothermal and in the hydrocarbon
industry. However, interpretation of carbonate deposits
in the subsurface is challenging due to its heterogeneous
character (lateral facies changes, karstification,
dissolution features) and is often being hard to(seismically) image. From a production perspective, aporous and permeable carbonate reservoir is often aresult of large-and small-scale fractures. Due to the lesspredictable nature of fractures and fracture networks itremains difficult to de-risk the exploration portfolio
based on a few case studies alone.

Dr Horst
Rüter,
member of
the IGA BoD,
during his
participationin theworkshop.

This workshop intended to offer a learning curve to
geoscientists from both industries and academia bysharing their respective knowledge base in carbonate
exploration. Seismic experts from the oil and gas
industry presented workflows and lessons learned inseismic interpretation of challenging reservoirs,
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
geologists from R&D departments and geoscientists
from the geothermal industry illustrated sophisticatedexploration methods that developed to describe andmap effects of carbonate uncertainty in the subsurface.
The audience combined geoscience professionals
engaged in the exploration of carbonate reservoirs. The
oil and gas was presented by experts from Shell, UFRN,TU Delft, Natal, PDS, and Schlumberger.
Experts presented geothermal cases from GTN,
Erdwerk, LIAG, DMT. Marit Brommer, the IGA
Executive Director, and Horst Rüter, member of the
IGA BoD, jointly chaired the event.
The crossover will be repeated annually and coverdifferent topics of interest in both industries. Note writtenby Horst Rüter.

Hungary: Turawell
Geothermal Project,
CompletedIn early September, Eiríkur Bragason, CEO of KS
Orka, posted a notice in LinkedIn that the project teamin Hungary was beginning the commissioning
procedures for the first geothermal power plant in
Hungary. The power plant has a 3MWe and 7MWthheating capacity. He also posted a video showing theplantalmostfinished(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W1PIGpg75U).
Turawell Kft is a project company of which 51% isowned by KS Orka Renewables Pte Ltd. of Singapore(KS ORKA) and 49% by the Hungarian Entrepreneurs,
Miszori Laszlo and Szanto Laszlo. The project waspartially financed by Erste Bank Hungary. The Power
Plant is a combined heat and power plant CHPP that
produces 3MW of electricity and 7MW th of heat forhouse heating. The renewable, clean energy is extracted
from the ground and, sustainably, returned to theground after the heat is used.

32
Eiríkur Bragason stated that, “KS Orka is prioritizing
investments in geothermal power plants in Asia and inEurope and aims to build up further 400MW of
combined heat and power plants in Europe over the
next three years.”
KS Orka is a joint venture between Hugar Orka ehf, an
Icelandic company, and Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor
Co., Ltd (Kaishan). KS Orka combines Hugar Orka’s
geothermal and project development expertise with
Kaishan’s power plant technology and manufacturingexpertise to form Asia’s only vertically integrated,
geothermal and waste energy company.
Sources: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ks-orkahungary-turawell-combined-heat-power-planteir%C3%ADkur-bragason/, http://ksorka.com/firstgeothermal-power-plant-hungary/

Iceland: Blue Lagoon,
Theistareykir Project, andDistributed Geothermal
Project
Deferred Sale of a Third of Blue Lagoon - HS Orka
had received offers for a 30 percent stake in the Blue
Lagoon geothermal spa in Iceland. The share of HS
Orka was placed in a sales process in mid-May 2017.
Offers received from foreign enterprises reached ISK 10
billion (or around US$96 million). The offers put themarket value of the Blue Lagoon at over ISK 30 billion(or around US$288 million), which was in line with the
expectations of the seller. Although Alterra wasprepared to sell under this preferred offer, Alterra’s
partner at HS Orka, Jarðvarmi slhf, whose consent was
required, decided against selling the stake at this time.
HS Orka may revisit the process at a later date.

The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa on the Reykjanes
peninsula on the southwestern tip of Iceland, about 45
km from the capital Reykjavik. It is one of the largest
tourist companies and destinations in
Turawell plant. Screenshot taken from the video produced by KS Orka.
Iceland.
Blue Lagoon revenues increased by 43
percent in 2016. The profit before
EBITDA was EUR 28.2 million(US$31 million) in 2016, increasing by
almost EUR 7 million (US$ 8 million)
from the previous year. In just five
years, the Blue Lagoon’s EBITDA
profit has almost tripled. According tomarket sources, estimates assume that
the EBITDA will continue to increase
this year.
The company’s income totaled EUR
77.2 million (around US$81 million),

www.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
based on the average exchange rate of the euro in 2016,
increasing by more than 43 percent between years. In
2012, the Blue Lagoon’s income amounted to only EUR
25 million. For the first time in 2016, the number ofvisits reached over a million, with 1,122,000 visitors or
about 200,000 more than the previous year.
The Blue Lagoon’s equity was EUR 53.6 million at theend of last year, with a capital ratio of over 49 percent.
Return on equity amounted to just under 44 per centlast year and the company’s interest-bearing debt
amounts to only EUR 34 million.
The share company Hvatning is the largest owner of theBlue Lagoon, with a 39 percent stake. Fund Framtak II,
owned by pension funds, financial institutions and otherinstitutional investors, owns 49.45% of Hvatning, while
Kólfur holds around 50.55%. The owners of Kólfur are
Grímur Sæmundsen, CEO and Founder of the Blue
Lagoon (75 percent), and Eðvard Juliuson (25 percent).
Magma Energy, a subsidiary of the Canadian energy
company Alterra, owns a 66.6 percent stake in HS Orka
while the joint venture, Jarðvarma, which owns fourteen
pension funds, owns 33.4 percent. In turn, the largest
shareholders of Jarðvarma, each with a 20 per centholding, are the two pension funds, Lífeyrissjóður
verslunarmanna and Gildi Lífeyrissjóður. On the boardof the Blue Lagoon are Ásgeir Margeirsson, CEO of HS
Orka, and Anna Skúladóttir, board member of HS
Orka.

33
generator is operational and used to prepare for thestartup of the first unit assembly.
The project will generate 90MW. The owner is
Landsvirkjun, Iceland’s national energy company andthe country’s largest electricity generator, processing
75% of all electricity used in Iceland from hydroelectric
power, wind, and geothermal energy. Fuji Electric has
manufactured the turbines and Balcke-Durr the coolingend. Installation of the second unit has begun and themachinery is running. Work has been done on layingout the equipment. The first unit is expected to be
operational on 1 December 2017 and the second on 1
April 2018.
The electricity generated will be fueling a new siliconplant by PCC at Bakki near Húsavík, plus strengthening
the electrical distribution in the northeastern corner of
Iceland.
Mannvit supervises the installation of the unit assemblyand support systems, along with technical assistance inthe tests and driveway of the power plant throughMannvit-Verkís. Previously, Mannvit-Verkís had workedon the plant design and tender documents.
Source:http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/commissioning-for90-mw-theistareykir-geothermal-plant-about-to-start/

Furthermore, the holding company Keila owns 9.2
percentage points in the Blue Lagoon. Other
shareholders are Úlfar Steindórsson, CEO of Toyota
Iceland, and Deputy Chairman of the Blue Lagoon
Board, and various Blue Lagoon Managers.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/acquisitionoffers-put-286m-value-on-icelandic-geothermal-spablue-lagoon/, http://www.newswire.ca/newsreleases/alterra-power-announces-termination-of-bluelagoon-sales-process-638306173.html
Drilling Finished at the Theistareykir Geothermal
Project - The Icelandic engineering firm, Mannvit,
announced in late August that drilling activities havebeen finished at the Theistareykir geothermal project inNorthern Iceland.
Tests on the first, installed turbine unit have begun.
Sufficient power for the first unit of the 45MW
geothermal power plant will be provided by existingwells. Over the past two years, 10 wells have been
drilled, one in the nearby Krafla geothermal area. In
total, 18 wells have been drilled at Theistareykir.
Mannvit has provided hollow design and helped indrilling surveillance. Through its subsidiary, MannvitVerkís, Mannvit provides the design for connections tosteam supply systems for the power plant. The steam
www.geothermal-energy.org

Units 1 & 2 of Theistareykir. Photo by Mannvit.
Distributed Geothermal Power Project – The
Icelandic company, CP Energy Holding, has made a
conditional order to Sweden’s Climeon AB regarding
equipment and services delivery for a two-phase, 15MW
distributed geothermal power project. Under the termsof the US$37.3 million order, Climeon will supply 100
units of its heat power modules for installation across 10
to 15 individual sites in Iceland over a period of 30
months. In Phase I, the Swedish firm will deliver sevenmodules to build the pilot plant in the first half of 2018.
Climeon will assist CP Energy Holding with complete
funding for this phase, including a supplier credit and apromissory note.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
In Phase II, Climeon will provide the remaining 93
modules for installation on new sites. CP Energy
Holding has not found a financing plan for that phaseand expects to seek financing from private investors andbanks.
The sales order is subject to certain conditions such as
undertaking a pre-study, signing construction andcommissioning contracts with third parties, and securing
the needed approvals. All modules will be operated by
the newly established Icelandic sector player,
Varmaorka.
The ultimate goal is to install a large-scale, distributed,
geothermal power plant without subsidies or grants,
Climeon noted.
Source: https://renewablesnow.com/news/swedensclimeon-engages-in-15-mw-geothermal-project-iniceland-583449/

The Netherlands: ‘Ultra-deep’
Geothermal Drilling Project inAlmere
The city of Almere in the Netherlands is planning toutilise geothermal energy for heating. The plans areunderway. The project aims to drill wells over 4,000
meters deep to an ‘ultra-deep’ area. Cool waters pumped
down to the area will heat up, be returned to thesurface, and used for heating homes.

34
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/dutch-ultradeep-geothermal-drilling-project-in-almere-netherlands/

Switzerland: Geneva to
Proceed with Exploration
Phase of GEothermie 2020
Project
The Swiss canton of Geneve is entering the exploration
phase of its geothermal GEothermie 2020 project. First
five drilling zones were identified and an application forauthorization to continue was filed in the Official
Notice (FAO) Bulletin concerning the Mandement area.
Industrial Services (SIG) and the State of Geneva
mapped the canton for two years using seismic
methods, including vibrating trucks. Next, theinformation collected on the surface needs to provefavorable. “As much as we get to know the geology
from the surface, we are unable to determine a flow ofwater without drilling and pumping tests,” said cantonalgeologist, Jacques Martelain last July.
The hope is to find a very permeable zone straddlinglimestones (which contain water) and a network of
faults that would increase the permeability. “This may
allow us to find a sufficient quantity of water to have theflows necessary for geothermal energy,” Martelain
explained.

Research from TNO revealed last year that thesubsurface beneath the municipality is suitable for thiskind of geothermal heat. For Almere and the provinceof Flevoland, this is the reason to continue
development. There are now three pilot projects
planned for Almere. No date is set for drilling to begin.
In the Netherlands, there is little knowledge about
drilling this deep or even deeper. The Ministry of
Economic Affairs is broadly researching ultra-deep
geothermal energy with other institutions. The same
ministry’s supervisory body, the State Supervision of theMines, issued a serious warning last month. There isinsufficient attention being paid to drilling risks which,in the case of ultra-deep wells, loom higher. These
include the possibility of earthquakes, events that have
happened in Germany and Switzerland. The warnings
have been described as too sensational and not deeply
founded.

These exploratory drilling will not exceed 1,000 metersof depth, and if the results are positive, geothermalenergy can eventually be utilized.

Geothermal energy has been used in the Netherlands
for about the last 10 years. So far, wells no deeper than
2,000 to 3,000 meters have been drilled into water 60 to
80°C. That heat is used by the horticulture industry.
Almere needs higher-temperature water from deeper
resources to heat homes.

The seismicity is relatively low in Geneva; the method
used makes it possible to limit the risks. Martelain said,“It’s a program, not just a project where you drill 4,000
meters and see what’s going on. We begin with less deep
drilling, we learn from these drilling activities and thistechnique, and then we will go further. ”

www.geothermal-energy.org

One of the vibrating trucks used during the seismic
survey (Photo from the source).

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
The ultimate goal is to heat two thirds of thehouseholds in Geneva, thanks to geothermal energy.
But not immediately: if all goes well, it will take some 15
years.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/geneva-inswitzerland-to-proceed-with-exploration-phase-ofgeothermal-development/

Turkey: Direct Uses,
Investments, and Kizildere III
Unit 1
Potential for Geothermal Energy Direct Uses
beneath Istanbul - Studies determining the risk ofearthquakes in Istanbul have revealed
that the city has a potential for using
geothermal energy. The Yediyol Groupof Companies, which has geothermal
investments in Aydin’s Kusadasi
district, has 13 geothermal exploration
licenses throughout the province andplans
tocommercially
utilizegeothermal resources in Istanbul.

35
Geothermal Sector Aims to Double Investments by2020 – Turkey’s geothermal energy sector aims to morethan double investments to US$7 billion by 2020 fromthe current level of US$3.2 billion, Ufuk Senturk, thepresident of Turkey’s Geothermal Electricity Power
Plant Investors Association (JESDER) said in midAugust.
Senturk said Turkish geothermal electrical generation
has experienced a massive rise in recent years andcontinues to grow year by year. Turkey’s geothermal
sector has seen growth in power generation capacity,
going from 30MW in 2008 to the current 870MW –equivalent to 19 percent of the country’s potential for
geothermal power production, currently estimated at 4.5
gigawatts.

The Company Group Chairman,
Muhammet Tuheyp Mandi, said,“Geothermal will help to lower gas bills
for heating, and, even more important,geothermal is greener than othersources of heating because there arefewer emissions.”
In Istanbul, the company has started
building residential projects withthermal pools heated by geothermalenergy.
Mendi pointed out that Istanbul’s mostimportant urban transformation projectis over the geothermal richness of
Fikirtepe. He said a central heating project based on
geothermal is being built in this part of the area. The
project, which envisages the construction of thermalpools in the region, will be copied in residential projects
in Kagthane Cendere Valley and Atasehir.
Yediyol Group of Companies has started building thefirst project of 60 apartments in Kadiköy Acibadem.
The slogan is: ‘Heating and thermal facility free, nodues’ using geothermal resources.
Mendi explained they planned to build thermal curecenters in geothermal areas. “Millions of people every
year will come to the feet of the Istanbulites, spending
their money on thermal centers to find healing”.
Source: http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/study-findspotential-for-geothermal-energy-utilisation-beneathistanbul-turkey/
www.geothermal-energy.org

Graph prepared by ThinkGeoEnergy.
“Turkey, the seventh largest geothermal country in theworld, with 870MW of installed geothermal capacity,
has increased its capacity by 50 percent every year forthe last five years,” he explained.
According to Senturk, the contribution from geothermal
power as a national, local and environmentally-friendly
energy source, needs to increase for the economy andsuch development should be backed by governmental
support.
He added that on the association’s behalf, along withsector officials, the matter has been made known topublic authorities.
The risks and costs are very high for geothermal
investments, especially for low-temperature geothermal
resources, falling second to investments in nuclear
power, he asserted.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

36

UK: Lithium inCornwall, and Two
Projects in Scotland“For resources with heat under 140°C to contribute to
the economy, we expect some regulations,” he declared.
The larger share of the monies is needed for geothermal
drilling —at US$3 million per well, Senturk said. He
explained that a 1000-meter well requires an investment
of US$300 per meter. But at further depths, the costrises. For example, a well drilled to a depth of 3,000
meters would require US$1,000 per meter to drill.
Together with other expenditures, the costs of drilling a
4000-meter deep well could reach US$6 million, he said.
“The amount of investment in geothermal energy today
is US$3.2 billion. When the 1.75 thousand megawatts ofgeothermal power plant projects licensed and scheduled
for 2020 are finalized, the investment amount will reach
US$7 billion,” Ozturk noted.
He concluded that the purchase guarantee scheme forgeothermal energy, currently set at US$0.105 cents perkilowatt-hour, should continue for five years after theyear 2020 for the future of this energy source.
The country has pledged to develop 30 percent of its
total installed capacity from renewable sources by 2023.
The objective is to add 34 GW of hydropower, 20 GW
of wind energy, 5 GW of solar energy, 1 GW ofbiomass and 1 GW of geothermal power.
Source:http://aaenergyterminal.com/searchdetail.php?newsid=
12809845First Unit of Kızıldere Plant III Started to Operate –The first unit of the Kizildere III geothermal power
plant has become operational, the Turkish energy
company Zorlu Enerji said in late August. This first unit
has an installed capacity of 99MW and a cost of US$320
million, according to the company. “The first unit of theKızıldere III geothermal power plant will produce 720
million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year,” said Sinan
Ak, CEO of Zorlu Energy Group. “The Kızıldere III
geothermal power plant will have a total capacity of
165MW. When it is completed next year, it will be thebiggest geothermal power plant in Turkey,” Ak added.
The power plant is located in Denizli, in southwestern
Turkey.
Source: http://aa.com.tr/en/economy/zorlus-kizildereiii-geothermal-plant-starts-operation/891879

www.geothermal-energy.org

Lithium from Geothermal Brines to
Be Exploited in Cornwall - Cornish
Lithium, a privately owned company,
has raised £1 million (US$1.3 million) to push forwardwith a rather unique project –exploring for undergroundlithium bearing hot spring brines in southwestern
England.
Cornish Lithium said, “The funds raised will enable thecompany to commence exploration activities inCornwall”. To this end, Cornish Lithium plans to
explore a 15-mile (~27 km) stretch of the region’s
peninsula, the land rights to which it secured earlier thisyear.
Jeremy Wrathall, the CEO of Cornish Lithium, is amining engineer who graduated from Camborne Schoolof Mines in Cornwall. He said the county is the only
known lithium source in the United Kingdom and thecompany will use data to “prioritize the best locations
for subsequent drilling and sampling”. Experienced
mining consultant, Chris von Christierson, director ofSouthern Prospecting, and Peter Smedvig, an investor insmall cap natural resources firms, complete the investingtrio.
Incoming shareholder Liddell said: “Given the extensive
historic readings of lithium in geothermal brines as wellas the recent advances in technology, we see a realpotential for lithium production in Cornwall”.
If successful in extracting lithium from hot spring brines
in granite, it would make the county the United
Kingdom and Europe’s only major source of thevaluable metal. Lithium is a key component of higher
spec batteries that power everything from laptops toelectric cars. “We hope to be the domestic source oflithium for the United Kingdom”.
Wrathall said Cornish Lithium has synergies with ahoped-for mining revival in Cornwall and with
development of geothermal energy, which could be usedin processing activities.
Source:http://expressnewsline.com/2017/08/14/lithium-startup-finds-backers-for-cornish-project.html
Plans for a New Geothermal Research Field in
Glasgow, Scotland - With an estimated cost of around£9 million (around US$12 million), there are two sites
being evaluated for a geothermal research field in
Glasgow: a site on the Clyde Gateway area in the eastend of the city, or a site in Rutherglen.

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
The site is one of two proposed in the £31 million UK
Geoenergy Observatories Project led by The Natural
Environment Research Council (NERC) and the British
Geological Survey (BGS). A further project would bebuilt in England.

37
Source: https://www.arup.com/news-andevents/news/scotlands-first-deep-geothermal-districtheating-network-given-backing

Glasgow’s research field aims to assess whether
geothermal energy would be able to warm waters in theunused coal mines under the city that may be able toheat homes and businesses.
Professor John Luddon, executive director of the British
Geological Survey, said, “This has the potential to be aworld-class research site attracting globally leading
scientists and engineers, building on Glasgow’s history
as a trailblazing city of science.
“Realizing the potential of geothermal energy in Clyde
Gateway may create opportunities for the UK to leadthe way in providing safe and sustainable energy forformer mining communities around the world. We arevery keen to hear what the community think about this
proposed project,” Professor Luddon said.
Source: http://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgownews/plans-proposed-9-million-geothermal-13472908
Geothermal District Heating to Be Developed inWestern Scotland – The Scottish Government has
allocated £1.8 million (US$ 2.43) of grant funding tosupport the creation of Scotland’s first low carbon,
renewable deep-geothermal, district heating network at
The HALO Kilmarnock development in the West of
Scotland. The delivery of heat to the network will befrom a deep geothermal single well (DGSW) which will
be developed by Geon Energy Ltd –a joint venture
between Geothermal Engineering Ltd and Arup.
The DGSW is a single geothermal well that is drilled toa depth of two kilometers. Water heated by thesurrounding rock is drawn up from depth using a small
pump. The heat is then transferred to water in theheating system.
This innovative technology will generate sustainable
heat for the redevelopment of the former Johnnie
Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock. The HALO
Kilmarnock community-led regeneration project will
deliver a mixed-use development, whose funding comesfrom the Scottish Government through the Low
Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP),
UK Government, East Ayrshire Council, Diageo andprivate sector investors.
The lead developers will be The HALO Kilmarnock,
Ltd in partnership with entrepreneur, Marie Macklin of
Macklin Enterprise Partnerships, the Klin Group, Ross
Developments & Renewables Ltd (RDRL), East
Ayrshire Council and Diageo plc. The well is scheduled
to be drilled and installed in the first half of 2018.
www.geothermal-energy.org

Oceania
New Zealand: Climate Bonds,
Expansion of Geothermal
Plant, and Support for Direct
Uses
First Climate Bonds Certification of Geothermal
Assets - Contact Energy Ltd., a New Zealand company,
has gained Climate Bonds Certification of geothermal
assets as part of its new, Green Loan Borrowing
Program for NZ$1.8bn (US$1.3bn). This is the first
Climate Bonds Certification gained by a New Zealandcompany. In a statement, the company noted its Green
Borrowing Program Framework had been developed toalign with the GBP. It announced the Climate Bonds
Initiative Certification under Standard V2.1.
Dennis Barnes, Contact Chief Executive, said, “OurGreen Borrowing Program is a first for a New Zealandcorporation and enables debt investors and lenders toaccess a broad range of certified green debt instruments
issued by a New Zealand company.” Louise Tong,
Contact Head of Capital Markets & Tax, said,“Contact’s Program plays an important role indeveloping opportunities for global lenders andinvestors who are seeking certified green investments in
New Zealand.”Sean Kidney, CEO Climate Bonds Initiative, said. “ThisNZ$1.8bn (US$1.3bn) Green Borrowing Program fromContact Energy includes one of our single largest
certifications to date and is a significant global boost forbest practice standards in green finance. It isdemonstrating the kind of corporate leadership on green
finance we need to see replicated by more listedcompanies, both in Trans-Tasman capital markets andinternationally.”
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
Source: http://reneweconomy.com.au/contact-energylarge-scale-climate-bonds-certification-77637/
Ngawha Geothermal Plant Would Double its
Current Capacity - As part of a public statement on
the good finance results of the company Top Energy,
which increased revenue by NZ$5 million (US$3.6
million) over the last year, the chairman Murray Bainsaid the Ngawha geothermal power plant would soon
have the capacity to generate 50MW of electricity, which
could supply more than 80 percent of the Far North’s
needs and would contribute significantly to group’s
profits. The company has been weighing to expand thecurrent capacity of the Ngawha plant, which is 25MW,
and utilize all the available geothermal resources. The
expected commissioning in 2020 is timed to forecast
increased national-electricity demand. Depending on the
New Zealand electricity market conditions, Top Energyplans to build and test the operation of one power
station at a time, with the first power station expected tobe commissioned around 2023. Top Energy is seeking
to have resource consents finalized by mid-2017 to meetthis deadline.

38
could be at the forefront of this as we have a secure andrenewable energy source at our fingertips,” stated Judith
Collins, MP for Papakura.
“If used for high-value products, geothermal heat could
add millions to the local and national economy, growing
industries in timber drying, aquaculture/tourism,
horticulture, and milk drying,” she added.
The project will be led by the region with central
governmental support from the Regional Growth
Program.
Source:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1708/S00400/fun
ding-to-look-at-geothermal-opportunities.htm

Other
Global: Governments Adopt‘Florence Declaration’ in GGA
Meeting
On 12 September 2017, governments
agreed to work together to identify andimplement measures that will significantly
increase the speed of geothermal energy
development around the world, following
a milestone meeting between public andprivate leaders in Florence, Italy. Under
the terms of the ‘Florence Declaration’ –an outcome of the Global Geothermal
Alliance (GGA) meeting – governments
will actively pursue a collective ambition torealize geothermal potential.

The meeting, entitled: ‘Working Together
to Promote Geothermal Energy Towards
a Sustainable Energy Future’ –the largest
Ngawha geothermal power station. Photo by Top Energy.
such meeting of ministerial representatives
todiscuss
geothermalenergy– was marked by the
Sources: http://www2.nzherald.co.nz/thereleaseofanewreportfrom the Internationalcountry/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=11904559
Renewable
EnergyAgency(IRENA),
coordinator of the, http://topenergy.co.nz/ngawha-expansion-project/
GGA, in which access to capital for surface exploration
Governmental Fund for Geothermal Direct Uses inand drilling was cited as the main barrier to geothermal
Bay of Plenty - The New Zealand Government willdevelopment. The report also noted that moreinvest NZ$150,000 (US$109,600) in stimulating demand“transparent government regulations that avoid projectfor geothermal heat resources in the Bay of Plenty
delays” were needed to provide sufficient certainty toregion, Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges
developers and investors.
announced in August.
Minister of Environment, Mr. Gian Luca Galletti stated:
The investment will be used for a Geothermal Business“Italy considers the Paris Agreement to be irreversible
Development Lead to support work in stimulating
and non-negotiable and therefore strives to promotedemand for geothermal heat resources, including
geothermal and other renewable energy sources as a
attracting investment from industry and promoting thevital component for the planet’s sustainablevalue proposition and commercial opportunities.
development.”“The costs of renewable geothermal energy are often
comparatively cheaper than gas and coal. New Zealand
www.geothermal-energy.org“Geothermal’s vast potential is currently untapped,” hecontinued. “We must develop new technologies andOctober-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
encourage new investments to ensure we cover this gap.
The Alliance will multiply its efforts to guide thisprocess, and Italy will provide its contribution with its
long experience and know-how.”39
H.E. Abou-Zeid. “We aim to build on this, supporting
sustainable exploration through the work of thisAlliance.”
The GGA meeting was attended bymore than 200 high-level public,
intergovernmental,
nongovernmental, and senior privatesector representatives committed toscaling up geothermal energy
deployment worldwide.

Mr. Carlo Pignoloni, Head ofRenewable Energies Italy, Iberia,
rest of Europe and North Africa at
ENEL, said: “Geothermal power
can play a significant role inpromoting sustainable and clean
development
globally.
Stableregulatory frameworks, long-term
licenses, and bankable PPAs, inaddition to transparent and public
View of the GGA meeting in Florence. Photo: IRENA.
tenders, are key to if we are to takeMs. Teresa Bellanova, Italy’s Vice Minister of Economy
full advantage of the vast global geothermal potential.”and Development, said: “Geothermal Energy’s
The GGA membership is composed of 42 countries
consistent and continuous availability make it a highlyand 29 partner institutions, including multilateral
precious source of renewable energy both in Italy andorganizations, development partners, international andmany countries all over the world. Through our
regional organizations, global financial institutions,knowledge of the industry, Italy can play an important
academia, research institutions, and the and privaterole in achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement,
sector.
in addition to stimulating sustainable job creation.”
The Alliance aims to enhance multilateral efforts
Director-General of IRENA, Mr. Adnan. Z. Amin, said:
towards a more favorable environment to achieve a 500“This meeting has, without question, allowed both thepercent increase in global installed capacity forpolicy and industry communities to identify common
geothermal power generation and a 200 percent increase
ground in the pursuit of what is a renewable energy
in geothermal heating by 2030.
source with tremendous potential.
Source:“If we can identify and implement mechanisms that
http://sweetcrudereports.com/2017/09/12/governmedeliver a greater level of certainty to investors andnts-adopt-florence-declaration-agree-to-advancedevelopers, then we will move beyond meaningfulgeothermal-energy/
dialogue to decisive action that accelerates geothermal
production,” continued Mr. Amin, “contributing
significantly to de-carbonization of the global economy,
Climate Change: The East
while creating jobs and supporting growth around theAfrican Climate Paradox
world.”
Despite models predicting increased rainfall with climate“Access to low carbon forms of energy that supportchange, the east Africa region has collapsed into
economic development while mitigating climate change,
drought. Why?
is a core priority for the African Union,” said H.E. Dr.
The long rains, one of two wet seasons that quench the
Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner forthirst of the East African region, failed this year for the
Infrastructure and Energy. “Geothermal energy issecond time in a row. Lack of water, withering crops
emerging as a hidden gem of Africa’s renewable energy
and starving cattle plunged Somalia, Ethiopia, and parts
resources and we must work together, across nations, toof Kenya into a food crisis that the countries are notensure this resource achieves its potential.
prepared for.
“Through partnerships and the Geothermal Risk
Humanitarian assistance has helped and will be needed
Mitigation Facility, the African Union is currently
far into 2018. But in war-affected Somalia and Southsupporting 26 projects in East African countries that
Sudan, famine has emerged; in Ethiopia, aid money is
will generate more than 1,500MW of power,” continued
www.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
running short after repeated droughts; and in Kenya, theshortage of resources is giving rise to land conflicts.
For these countries, the ability to plan ahead isundermined by a mystery that has climate scientists
puzzled. Most models suggest that global warming
should be making the Horn of Africa wetter than in preindustrial times. But as local weather data and dry
streams on the ground testify, year after year the regionis getting drier.
What has become known as the ‘East African climate
paradox’ is a quirk that has been puzzling scientists forthe best part of a decade, but is still far from being
explained. Why do models project more rain while dataon the ground show less and less by the year?
Scientists have come up with an array of different
explanations for the paradox, ranging from naturalvariability of the climate that models struggle to capture,
to patchy observational data due to poor infrastructure
and records in the region.

40
Source:http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/07/13/scientists-say-east-africa-will-get-wetter-drying/

Climate Change: Dying Godsin Kenya
Following are excerpts from a note by Daniel Wesangula, titled,
Dying gods: Mt Kenya’s disappearing glaciers spread
violence below.
Mwangi Gitaru remembers his childhood well. He
remembers the childhood games. He remembers the
songs he and his friends used to sing while tending
family goats. He remembers the stream that ran acrosshis father’s parcel of land, cutting it in half.
But most importantly, Gitaru remembers how each day
his grandfather would wake up and face Mount Kenya
and pray.
“He believed the mountain was the source of life,”
Gitaru says. “At that time, its whole peak was white ascotton wool. We were told as young boys, that waswhere the gods were. And we believed it.”

Precipitation adds a further layer of complexity because
rain is the end point of a long chain of climatic andweather processes. In planetary terms, clouds are tiny,
From theelusive objects
snow-cappedthat move andmountain cameevolve on an
folklore; came
extremely
tales of bravery
small scale.
and bounty“The available
handed down
models stillfromstruggle togeneration tocapture them”
generation. But
says Marsham,moreclimateimportantly,
scientist withfrom thethe University
glaciers nearof Leeds in thethe summit,
UK, “butwhich rises toequally science
more thanis rapidly
Lewis Glacier, the largest glacier on Mt Kenya, has shrunk by 90% since the5,000m above
advancing and1930s (Photo: Chris 73/Wikimedia Commons; taken from the source.)
sea level, came
I am confident
streams thatthat in coming
fed
intobiggerstreams
that
fed
into
riversthat gave life
years we will have better information.”to everything that lay around the mountain; including
Although many questions remain open, the paradox
Gitaru, his neighbors in Karatina region, friends anddoesn’t dent the scientific community’s trust in theirsome enemies too.
research methods. “There is always the risk that
Gitaru belongs to the Kikuyu tribe, Kenya’s mostsomeone will use the uncertainty as an excuse for not
populous according to the most recent census. The
acting, and that to my mind is the opposite of what we
Kikuyu refer to the mountain as Kirinyaga (‘Mountainshould do,” says Marsham. “On the contrary, we areof Whiteness’) and traditionally revere it as home towell aware of the challenge of predicting rainfall in thetheir omnipotent deity, Ngai. But lately the deity appears
tropics and this mismatch doesn’t mean that the models
to have forsaken them.
are wrong. This is an interesting mystery to solve, and in“The ice is melting away. The rivers flowing from thedoing so we will understand a lot more about theglaciers are not as full as they used to be. Some haveclimate system in East Africa.”
www.geothermal-energy.org

October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

41

dried up. And this is causing conflict downhill,” says
Kenyan environmentalist and chairman of Kenya’s
Water Towers Management Authority, Isaac Kalua.

months of the year,” said water manager Kalua. “It isduring these months that conflict between the Meru andBorana communities flares up.”

The United Nations Environment Program estimatesthat only 10 of the 18 glaciers that covered themountain’s summit a century ago remain, leaving lessthan one third of the previous ice cover. The Lewis
Glacier, the largest on Mt Kenya, has decreased by 90%
in volume since 1934, with the highest rates of ice
volume loss occurring around the turn of the century.

Before a mountain hiker gets to the fast disappearing
glaciers of Mt Kenya, he or she will go through a
succession of distinctive, elevation-based vegetation
zones. The grasslands first, then at about 6,000 feet
(1,830 m) a ring of dense forest covering the slopes up
to about 10,000 feet (3,050 m).

“When the melting starts, rivers first experience highflows because of the melting ice,” says Kalua. “But thissubsequently reduces because the glaciers never really
recover like they did before climate change became a
reality. Because of this, there is less and less water in therivers in the years that follow.”
Kenya, like many African countries, is highly vulnerable
to climate change because of its exposure to risingtemperatures and rainfall variability and its dependence
on agriculture.
“Any change in anything that could affect thissubsistence agriculture almost always ends in conflict,”
Kalua says.
The drainage pattern from the Mt Kenya’s glaciers isradial. Despite this, all streams eventually end up as
tributaries to one of two rivers; the Tana River that runs
tirelessly south and eventually into the Indian Ocean
and the more sporadic Ewaso Ng’iro River in theeastern lowlands.
But the River Liki, stretching from the northern side of
the mountain, was traditionally depended on by the
Borana community. It no longer flows all year round.
“It has now become seasonal, flowing for only 8Then the slightly ticklish scent of cedar andyellowwood. From 8,000 feet (2,440 m), with the air
getting thinner and thinner, one would walk into a rowof bamboo forest that noticeably becomes shorter as
you go higher. At 12,000 feet (3,660 m), you’ll be on amoor where the ground becomes slippery due to themoss and lichen covering the ground. Then at 15,000
feet (4,570 m), the glaciers announce their majesty in
between bare rock, slate and ice, sitting on top of themountain like icing on a massive cake.
In 1893, the famous British geologist, John W. Gregory,
led the first scientific expedition up Mt Kenya but could
not make it past the glaciers to reach the summit.
Now, the climb and descent to the highest mountainpeak and one of two remaining glacier cappedmountains in East and Central Africa takes a total of
five days.
“If I were to kneel and pray facing Mt Kenya, mychildren will think I am growing mad,” Gitaru, thefarmer from the little village in Nyeri says. “Very manythings have changed in very little time,” says the 73year-old, the sun setting behind the god of his
forefathers, whose disappearance has turned neighbors
against one another.
Parallel to that, the turnout for afiercely contested presidential
election appeared to be high
among
the
19.6
millionregistered voters. Opposition
leader Raila Odinga alleged theresults were manipulated byhackers.
Source:http://www.climatechangenews.
com/2017/08/02/dying-godsmt-kenyas-disappearing-glaciersspread-violence/

Elephants crossing the Ewaso Ng’iro River in Samburu. Original Photo by Lucy
King/Save the Elephants(https://voices.nationalgeographic.org/2013/01/31/time-running-out-tosave-elephants-from-ivory-trade/eles/)www.geothermal-energy.org

Climate Change:
U.S.’ Crop Yields
Could Be Curbed
by 2050: MIT
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
Climate change could deplete some U.S. water basins
and dramatically reduce crop yields in some areas by
2050, according to researchers at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. A study by a group of MIT
scientists and economists is one of the first to examine
how the warming climate could affect the availability
and distribution of the water basins that farmers depend
on for irrigation.
If no action is taken to combat climate change, the teampredicts that by 2050, numerous basins used to irrigate
crops across the country will either start to experienceshortages or see existing shortages “severely
accentuated.’’Elodie Blanc, the lead author for the study, said certain
regions in the southwest already are seeing a drop in theamount of water available for irrigation and otherregions could follow.
“If we mitigate, this could prevent added stressassociated with climate change and a severe decrease in
runoff in the western United States,” Blanc said. “But it
will be even worse in the future if we do nothing at all.”Erwan Monier, a coauthor on the study, said researchers
will now seek to examine the ways reduced crop yields
could influence the country’s agricultural landscape.
Under some scenarios, researchers actually projecthigher yields for irrigated crops such as wheat, soybean,
and sorghum in the southern plains, expected to receive
more rainfall because of climate changes.
But farmers could feel the impact in other areas.

42
The latest roadmap to a 100% renewable energy futurefrom Stanford’s Mark Z. Jacobson and 26 colleagues is
the most specific global vision yet, outlining
infrastructure changes that 139 countries can make to be
entirely powered by wind, water, and sunlight by 2050
—after the electrification of all energy sectors.
Such a transition could mean less worldwide energy
consumption due to the efficiency of clean, renewableelectricity; a net increase of over 24 million long-term
jobs; an annual decrease in 4-7 million air pollution
deaths per year; stabilization of energy prices; andannual savings of over US$20 trillion in health andclimate costs. The information appeared August 23,
2017, in the journal Joule, Cell Press’s new publication
focusing on sustainable energy.
The challenge of moving the world toward a low-carbon
future in time to avoid exacerbating global warming andto create energy self-sufficient countries is one of thegreatest of our time. The roadmaps developed by
Jacobson’s group provide one possible endpoint. For
each of the 139 nations, they assess the raw, renewableenergy resources available to each country; the numberof wind, water, and solar energy generators needed to be
80% renewable by 2030 and 100% by 2050; how muchland and rooftop area these power sources would
require (only around 1% of total available, with most of
this open space between wind turbines that can be used
for multiple purposes); and how this approach would
reduce energy demand and cost compared with abusiness-as-usual scenario.

“In the real world, if you’re a farmer and year after year
you’re losing yield, you might decide, ‘I’m done
farming,’ or switch to another crop that doesn’t requireas much water, or maybe you move somewhere else,”
Monier said.
The information provided in the study could prompt
farmers, and others outside the agricultural sector, toadapt before they start experiencing water shortages andproblems with irrigation.
“We hope there will be adaptation ahead of time so thatthe impact on the economy is as limited as possible,”
Monier said. “We want people to realize the way theworld is at this moment is not going to be sustainable in
the future.”
Source:https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/07/13/cli
mate-change-could-curb-crop-yields-mit-studysays/Xd7OBO7XCMi92rcXkDwl4M/story.html

Clean Energy: 139 Countries
Could Easily Be 100 Percent
Powered by Clean Energy
www.geothermal-energy.org

The analyses specifically examined each country’s
electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, industrial,
and agriculture/forestry/fishing sectors. Of the 139
countries —selected because they were countries forwhich data were publically available from theInternational Energy Agency and collectively emit over
99% of all carbon dioxide worldwide— the places thestudy showed with a greater share of land per
population (e.g., the United States, China, the European
Union) are projected to have the easiest time making thetransition to 100% wind, water, and solar. The most
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
difficult places to transition may be highly populated,very small countries largely surrounded by oceanic
waters, such as Singapore, which may require an
investment in offshore solar to convert fully.
As a result of the transition, the roadmaps predict a
number of collateral benefits. For example, by
eliminating oil, gas, and uranium uses, the energy
associated with mining, transporting, and refining thesefuels is also eliminated, reducing international power
demand by around 13%. Because electricity is more
efficient than burning fossil fuels, demand should go
down another 23%. The changes in infrastructure would
also mean countries wouldn’t need to depend on one
another for fossil fuels, reducing the frequency ofinternational conflict over energy. Finally, communities
currently living in energy deserts would have access toabundant, clean, renewable power.

43
http://thesolutionsproject.org/resource/139-country100-infographics/

Science: Expedition to
Submerged Continent
Zealandia
Surrounding New Zealand is a mass of the earth’s crust
about half the size of Australia, the continent Zealandia.
What makes Zealandia different from other continents
is that more than 90 percent of it is submerged.

The Joule paper is an expansion of 2015 transition
roadmaps created for each state in the U.S. to 100%
clean, renewable energy —and with an analysis ofwhether or not the electric grid would remain stable
upon such a transition. Not only does this new study
cover nearly the entire world, there are also improved
calculations on the availability of rooftop solar energy,
renewable-energy resources, and jobs created versus
lost.
The 100% clean, renewable-energy goal has been
criticized by some for focusing only on wind, water, andsolar energy and excluding nuclear power, ‘clean coal’,(geothermal) and biofuels. However, the researchers
intentionally excluded nuclear power because of its 1019 years between planning and operation, its high cost,
and the acknowledged risks of meltdown, weapons
proliferation, and waste sites. ‘Clean coal’ and biofuels
are neglected because they both cause heavy air
pollution, which Jacobson and coworkers are trying toeliminate, and emit over 50 times more carbon per unitof energy than wind, water, or solar power.
The 100% wind, water, solar studies have also beenquestioned for depending on technologies such as
underground heat storage in rocks, which exists only ina few places, and the proposed use of electric andhydrogen fuel cell aircraft, which currently exist only insmall planes. Another criticism is the massive
investment it would take to move a country to thedesired goal. Jacobson counters that wind, water, andsolar can face daily and seasonal fluctuation, but thesestability concerns can be addressed in several ways.
Jacobson says also that the overall cost to society (theenergy, health, and climate cost) of the proposed system
is one-fourth of that of the current fossil fuel system.
Source: https://www.pvbuzz.com/pressreleases/countries-100-percent-powered-clean-energy/,

www.geothermal-energy.org

Zealandia surrounds New Zealand. Image Credit:
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP).
Increasingly detailed seafloor maps have attracted
attention to Zealandia. On late July, 30 researchers
started sailing on a two-month ocean drilling expedition
to search for clues to Zealandia’s history.
Participants in International Ocean Discovery Program(IODP) Expedition 371, sponsored by the U.S.’
National Science Foundation (NSF) and its international
partners in IODP, will sail from Townsville, Australia,
aboard the JOIDES Resolution, one of the world’s mostsophisticated scientific drill ships.
IODP is an international research collaboration thatcoordinates seagoing expeditions to study the history of
the earth recorded in sediments and rocks beneath theocean floor.
Expedition 371 scientists will join more than 20 crew
members in drilling at six Tasman Sea sites at water
depths ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 meters.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
At each site, the scientists will drill from 300 to 800
meters into the seafloor to collect core samples ofsediments deposited over millions of years. The cores
hold fossil evidence the scientists will use to assemble adetailed record of Zealandia’s past.
“If you go way back, about 100 million years ago,
Antarctica, Australia, and Zealandia were all one
continent,” said expedition co-chief scientist Gerald
Dickens, a geoscientist at Rice University. “Around 85
million years ago, Zealandia split off on its own, and fora time, the seafloor between it and Australia was
spreading on either side of an ocean ridge that separated
the two.”“Some 50 million years ago, a massive shift in platemovement happened in the Pacific Ocean,” said Jamie
Allan, a program director in NSF’s Division of Ocean
Sciences, which supports IODP. “The pacific plate dove
under New Zealand; New Zealand was lifted above thewaterline; and a new arc of volcanoes was created. The
IODP expedition will look at the timing and causes ofthese changes, related changes in oceanic circulation
patterns, and finally climate changes on our planet.”“We’re looking at the best place in the world tounderstand how plate subduction initiates,” said
Dickens. “This expedition will answer a lot of questions
about Zealandia.”
Prior to the shift, Australia and New Zealand werespreading apart. After the shift, the area that separated
them was under compression for millions of years.

44
give way and slide under the other in a process called
subduction. The subducted slab slips down through theearth’s viscous mantle, like a flat stone in a pool ofhoney.
For the most part, today’s subducting slabs can only
sink so far, about 670 kilometers below the surface,
before the mantle’s makeup turns from a honey-likeconsistency, to that of paste —too dense for most slabs
to penetrate further. Scientists have suspected that thisdensity filter existed in the mantle for most of earth’s
history.
Now, however, geologists at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) have found that this density
boundary was much less pronounced 3 billion years ago
in the ancient earth’s mantle. In a paper published in
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the researchers notethat the ancient earth had a mantle as much as 200°C
hotter than today’s —temperatures that may havebrewed up more uniform, less dense material
throughout the entire mantle.
The researchers also found that, compared with today’s
rocky material, the ancient crust was composed of muchdenser stuff enriched in iron and magnesium. The
combination of a hotter mantle and denser rocks likely
caused subducting plates to sink all the way to thebottom of the mantle, 2,800 kilometers below thesurface, forming a ‘graveyard’ of slabs atop the earth’s
core.

Then, in the final stage, the Pacific Plate dove beneath
Zealandia, forming a new subduction zone.
“What we want to understand is why and when thevarious stages from extension to relaxation occurred,”
Dickens said. “The core samples will help tell us that.
They’ll be analyzed for sediment composition,
microfossil components, mineral and water chemistry,and physical properties.”
He said the research may also answer questions about
the way earth’s climate has evolved in the last 60 million
years.
Source:https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=242506&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

Science: Ancient Earth’s Hot
Interior Caused Tectonic
Plates to Sink
Plate tectonics has shaped the earth’s surface for billionsof years as continents and oceanic crusts have pushed
and pulled on each other, continually rearranging theplanet’s façade. As two massive plates collide, one canwww.geothermal-energy.org

Image credit: MIT.
These results paint a very different picture of
subduction than that of today. They suggest that theearth’s ancient mantle was much more efficient indrawing down pieces of the planet’s crust.
“We find that around 3 billion years ago, subductedslabs would have remained denser than the surrounding
mantle, even in the transition zone, and there’s noreason from a buoyancy standpoint why slabs should
get stuck there. Instead, they should always sinkthrough, which is a much less common case today,” says
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
lead author Benjamin Klein, a graduate student in MIT’s
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary
Sciences (EAPS). “This seems to suggest there was a bigchange going back in earth’s history in terms of how
mantle convection and plate tectonic processes would
have happened.”“There’s this open question as to when plate tectonics
really started in the earth’s history,” Klein says. “There’s
general consensus it was probably going on back at least
3 billion years ago. This is also when most models
suggest the earth was at its hottest.”
To estimate the density of ancient slabs, Klein and his
co-authors compiled a large dataset of more than 1,400
previously analyzed samples of both modern rocks andkomatiites —classic rock types that were around 3
billion years ago but are no longer produced today.
These rocks contain a higher amount of dense iron andmagnesium compared to today’s oceanic crust. Klein
used the composition of each rock sample to calculate
the density of a typical subducting slab, for both themodern day and 3 billion years ago.
The team used a thermodynamic model to determine
the density profile of each subducting slab, or how its
density changes as it sinks through the mantle, given the
mantle’s temperature, which they took from others’
estimates and a model of the slab’s temperature. Fromthese calculations, they determined the depth at which
each slab would become less dense than thesurrounding mantle.
The team found that their estimates for where thisboundary occurs in the modern mantle —about 670
kilometers below the surface— agrees with actual
measurements taken of this transition zone today,
confirming that their method may accurately estimate
the ancient earth.
For the ancient earth 3 billion years ago, the researchers
found that, because the ancient mantle was so muchhotter than today, and the slabs much denser,
subducting slabs would have sunk straight to thebottom of the mantle to their final resting place justabove the earth’s core.
Source: http://news.mit.edu/2017/ancient-earth-hotinterior-graveyard-continental-slabs-0822

Financing: IRENA’s Analysis
on Renewable Energy
Auctions
On late July, the IRENA (International Renewable Energy
Agency) published Renewable Energy Auctions - Analyzing
2016. The following excerpts are from the Executive Summary.
Over the past decade, auctions have spread quickly as ameans of eliciting supplies of energy from renewable
www.geothermal-energy.org

45sources, growing faster in the past few years than feedin tariffs (or premiums) and quotas (or renewable
portfolio standards). The spread of auctions can be
ascribed to the increasing maturity of technology andother developments in the sector.
The potential of auctions to achieve low prices has beena major motivation for their adoption, worldwide. Priceresults for solar and wind auctions have shown adecreasing trend over recent years. In 2010, solar energy
was contracted at a global average price of almost US$
250/MWh, compared with the average price of US$
50/MWh in 2016. Wind prices have also fallen by 2010,
albeit at a slower pace, as the technology was moremature.
The evolution of prices resulting from auctions andtheir key determinants are basically: 1) Access to financeand country-specific conditions; 2) Investors’
confidence and the presence of a conducive
environment; 3) Other policies aimed at supporting
renewable energy development; and 4) The design
elements of the auction.
Renewable energy auctions passed several importantmilestones in 2016. Countries such as Argentina,
Canada, Mexico and Zambia kicked off auction-based
programs for promoting renewable power. Auctions fortechnologies less mature than onshore wind and solar
photovoltaics (PV) have emerged –with offshore windauctions held in Denmark and the Netherlands, biogas
capacity auctions in Argentina and Peru, and an auction
for solar thermal power announced in Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates. Several price records were set
during the year: in Chile and the United Arab Emirates
for solar PV, Morocco for onshore wind, and Denmarkfor offshore wind. In countries such as Chile andMexico, renewables were more competitive thanconventional energy technologies and won a large shareof contracts at record-breaking prices. The main resultsof the 2016 auctions for 16 countries are presented in
the table in the following page, whose data were takenfrom the IRENA’s report, excepting the data fromgeothermal energy in Mexico.
As shown in the table, only one geothermal project wasoffered in all the public auctions —the Los Azufres III,
Phase 2 project, submitted by the Comisión Federal deElectricidad in Mexico and mentioned in the IGA Newsv. 105, p. 14. The project, still under construction, is thefirst Mexican geothermal project granted in a publicpower auction. It has to be mentioned that the final
prices submitted for this plant didn’t include the cost of
the feeding wells, because the plant is actually an
expansion project that will replace three old and smaller
back-pressure geothermal plants of 5MW in capacity
each, and then will use the already available steam. But
anyway the power plant, with 25MW of firm electricalgenerating capacity, accounting for the low energy price
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
Country
Argentina-1
Argentina-2
BrazilCanadaChile
China
Denmark
Germany
India
Mexico-1
Mexico-2MoroccoNetherlands
Peru
Russia
UAE-1
UAE-2
UnitedStatesZambia46

Wind
MW Price*
707
<59.5
1038
<53

Solar
MW Price*
400
<60
1853
<55

1300
**

<66
<45.2

140
***
1000

<120
29.1
<73

600

53.9
130
6500
1100
1853

<81
<73
<44
<32.8

620
1038
850
700
162
610

<54.3
<36.2
<30
<80.4
<37 184.5
?
800
350
26

<48

Hydro
MW Price*

Biomass
MW Price*
1.2
118

500
15.5

198

<57.5
<135

Geothermal
MW Price*

<60.2

25

80

<46

29.9
24.2
26.7

<37

in 2007, to 14 GW today. Also,
the timing of negative prices in2017 points squarely at solar.
Negative prices peaked in Marchand April between noon and 5
pm on sunny days with highlevels of solar generation.
But the big surprise in theattached
figureis
2011.
Although it didn’t receive as
much attention, there were over
100 hours during 2011 withnegative electricity prices in
California. But why? Back in
2011, just a fraction existed of
the solar generation that we have
today. So what pushed prices
below zero?

The answer is hydro. The twowettest years in the last decade:
73>67
2011 and (probably) 2017.
* US$/MWh, ** 4400 GWh/year, ***580 GWh/year.
During just the first 5 months ofIn the cases of Argentina, Mexico and the UAE, 1 & 2 refer to the first and second auctions
2017, California had alreadyin 2016.
generated 22 million MWhs
from hydro, about equal toand representing a milestone for Mexican geothermaltypical hydro-generation for an entire year. If the rest ofelectrical projects.
2017 matches hydro-generation from last year, 2017 will
Source:end up being the second highest hydro year in the last
http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publicati
decade.
ons/IRENA_REAuctions_summary_2017.pdf
But why don’t hydro operators just leave the water inthe reservoir or “spill” waters without running the
Financing: Negative Electricity
generators? During these negative price hours, hydroPricesowners are paying money to produce electricity – why?
Why, for example, on April 9th of this year was so much
Between March and July 2017, there were over 100
hydro operating in the middle of the day, even while
hours when wholesale prices of the California
wholesale prices were negative?
Wholesale Electricity Market were below zero. These
negative prices have received a lot of attention, and thePart of the answer is that many hydro facilities are “rundiscussion has almost universally attributed the negativeof the river”, i.e. small-scale facilities in which the river’s
prices to California’s emphasis on solar generation.
flow itself is used to generate electricity. Negative prices
weren’t envisioned when these facilities were built, so
Solar is indeed part of the story, but another explanation
many lack the ability to “spill” water when necessary.
is at least as important. Over the last decade, hydro, not
Presumably it is very expensive to retrofit such facilities.
solar, has been the primary driver of negative electricity
prices in the United States. The year 2017 is no
But large facilities like Shasta Dam are more puzzling.
exception. Spring 2017 was among the rainiest in
While it is true these facilities are limited in how muchhistory, and this combination of hydro and solar has
water they can store, it is not clear why this should
pushed prices below zero.
matter. Nor should it matter if there are minimum andmaximum flow constraints. When prices are negative,
So far in 2017, California wholesale electricity prices
large hydro-facilities should always be able to “spill”
have been negative in 2.5% of the hours, more than 130
water and this would seem to be preferable.
in total.
Increased solar generation is definitely part of the
explanation for what’s happened in California in 2017.
Solar capacity in California, including both distributed
and utility-scale systems, has grown from less than 1GW
www.geothermal-energy.org

Thus it seems to be something else: operational, legal, or
contractual matters keeping these facilities running evenwhen prices are negative. In the northwest, dam
operators have limits on how much they can “spill”
because spilling churns air into the water, which is bad
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

47

This figure was constructed by Lucas Davis (UC Berkeley) using hourly wholesale prices from SNL Financial. The
underlying data are complete for NYISO, MISO, PJM, and ISONE, but start in 2009 for CAISO, and in 2010 for
ERCOT so there may have been negative prices in those markets prior to those years. Also, data for 2017 is only
available until mid-August, so the percentage is calculated over only part of the year.
for fish. Perhaps there is some similar regulation for
California dams.
Water does have a lot to do with negative prices. Solaralone would not have driven such levels of negative
prices this year if it hadn’t happened on top of nearrecord levels of hydro-generation. So in some sense,hydro can be even harder to turn off than wind andsolar.
Source:https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/issolar-really-the-reason-for-negative-electricity-prices/Book Reviews: Geothermal
Power Generation:
Developments and Innovation--a Review
Paul Gipe, Wind-Works.org
Geothermal energy is one of the dark horses ofrenewable energy. Few ‘renewable energy advocates’
know much —if anything— about it. They don’t knowwhat geothermal contributes today and have no clue
what its role could be in a 100% renewable energy
future. This is a grave mistake. Where the resource
exists…, geothermal should be an essential part of thegeneration mix…
That’s why I was happy to get a copy of Geothermal Power
Generation: Developments and Innovation by Ron DiPippo[editor]. The book is a tour de force for geothermal
engineers. DiPippo is Chancellor Professor Emeritus of
Mechanical Engineering and the former Associate Deanof Engineering at the University of Massachusetts in
Dartmouth, Mass.
The 854-page tome is a companion to DiPippo’s
previous Geothermal Power Plants, one of the definitivewww.geothermal-energy.org

texts on geothermal technology. The new book is acontinuation of his work, this time in collaboration withother experts in the field.
As a generalist, I found Part Four the most useful.
There are eight case studies, beginning with thebirthplace of geothermal: Larderello in Tuscany. This isfollowed by a review of geothermal in California,
including the Geysers, a giant field in Northern
California. Famous fields in New Zealand, Mexico,
Indonesia, and Central America are also covered.
I was hooked as soon as I opened up the book to thechapter on Larderello. The subtitle described the historyof the “boraciferous region” in what the Italians call the
Colline Metallifere between Pisa and Florence. It washere geothermal fluids boiled to the surface carrying
solutions of borates.
It’s obscure, very obscure, but borates from Tuscany’s
geothermal fields are linked to the history of California
and specifically the region where I live.
Borates are one of the major mineral products ofCalifornia and the mining for borates —the search forthem, and their exploitation-- are integral to many
famous tales from California’s period of European
settlement.
Death Valley National Park is a direct result of theborate boom as is the famous 20 mule team wagon
trains that carried the borates from Death Valley to
Mojave, California. One of the world’s largest borate
mines is not far from Mojave…
And it was competition from California’s abundantborates that led inexorably to the collapse of
Larderello’s borate industry and the rise of geothermal
power generation. As the Italians continued to refine
their mining of the borate solutions to stay competitive
with California, they began drilling deeper and deeper
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109
wells. They also began using the hot geothermal fluids
for the industrial process of concentrating the borates.
Subsequently, they began electrifying the fields andwhen they could no longer sell the borates they turned
to selling the electricity that they generated fromgeothermal energy. Today, the geothermal plants in andaround Larderello generate from 5 TWh to 7 TWh peryear for almost 2% of Italy’s total generation.
The ‘Geysers,’ as they are called, remain one of theworld’s largest geothermal fields. The region in
Northern California has been producing electricity fromgeothermal energy since the 1960s!
I’d written about the Geysers long ago —in the mid1980s. See Geysers Losing Steam: a Finite Resource
After All? At the time the field was in steep decline. As
geologist Carl Austin said at the time, there were simply
too many ‘straws in the bottle’ for the field to maintainits pressure. The solution was known: reducing thenumber of wells and the extraction rate.
Two authors from California’s geothermal industry
describe in this case study how the solutions were
eventually implemented and thoroughly document theresults.
While the field has never recovered its previous glory,
the steps taken in the 1990s have arrested its rapid
decline. The field’s depletion rate has dropped from ahigh of 4.8% per year in the 1980s to 2% per year in the
2000s. Nevertheless, steam production has been halved
from its peak in the late 1980s, illustrating how muchthe field had been overdeveloped.
The data in this case study is the most succinct and upto-date I’ve found for production from the Geysers.
Companies operating in California are notoriously
secretive about their generation. It was a sign of how
serious the problem had become that the companies‘mining’ the geothermal resource in the Geysers had toshare data and work together to prevent a complete
collapse of the industry —and their costly investments.
Though the case study on the Geysers doesn’t disprove
whether or not geothermal energy is a finite resource, itdoes address the question —with 55 years of stats— of
how to successfully manage the resource with an eye
toward sustainability.
DiPippo and his co-authors have produced acomprehensive reference work for those working in thegeothermal industry and should be a reference work on
the shelf of every environmental organization pursuing a
100% renewable energy supply.
Ron DiPippo, editor. Geothermal Power Generation:
Developments and Innovation. London: Woodhead
Publishing, 2016. 854 pages. ISBN: 9780081003374
cloth. $210.00, ISBN: 9780081003442, e-pub. $210.00.
9.5 x 6.25 x 1.75 inches. 1.5 lbs. Printed in England.
www.geothermal-energy.org

48

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
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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. Susan Hodgson proofread thearticles. Distributed by the IGA Secretariat. Design
layout by François Vuataz.
October-December 2017

IGA News No. 109

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October-December 2017