Prospective directions for use of geothermal resources in Ukraine
Authors:   Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of NAS of Ukraine, Dolinsky A. , Chalaev D. ,   Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of NAS of Ukraine, Pereyaslavtseva A. ,   Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of NAS of Ukraine, Silnyagina N. ,   Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of NAS of Ukraine
Published: December 2020

Geothermal resources are an almost inexhaustible environmentally friendly source of renewable energy. In Ukraine, there are large reserves of hot thermal waters, which are practically not used for the needs of heat power engineering. Analysis of literature data and previous developments carried out at the institutes of IET and IVE NAS of Ukraine made it possible to correct the general and technically possible potential of geothermal energy in Ukraine and determine the most promising directions for the development and implementation of geothermal energy. According to expert estimates, the theoretically possible energy potential of geothermal energy in Ukraine is more than 40 GW in capacity, and the economically viable potential is about 10 GW. The main area of application of geothermal energy in Ukraine is small-scale energy, within which it is possible to create local geothermal energy complexes for the production of electrical and thermal energy, the extraction of useful mineral compounds. The list of modern technologies that are successfully used in the world, and which, in our opinion, must be applied in Ukraine should include: - introduction of technologies of geothermal circulation systems (GCS) with the injection of spent (cooled) geothermal fluid into the aquifer; - introduction of technologies for double-circuit geothermal power supply systems using corrosion-resistant heat exchangers and preinsulated pipelines made of high-strength composite materials; - introduction of GCS technologies with the use of a downhole coaxial heat exchanger of the “pipe-in-pipe” type; - development of technologies for the construction of high-rate wells with horizontal or inclined shafts in an aquifer; - conversion of a significant number of individual idle wells of oil and gas fields to the extraction of geothermal energy using deep coaxial heat exchangers of the “pipe in pipe” type and creating a circulation loop with an intermediate heat carrier; - introduction of modern binary GeoPPs of medium and low power on the basis of serial power modules, for example, “Obcon Powerbox”, Sweden or “Ormat”, Israel and the organization of production of such equipment in Ukraine; - introduction of heat pump technologies to increase the temperature potential of the coolant on the basis of vapor compression heat pumps or absorption thermotransformers; - development and implementation of integrated technologies for the utilization of geothermal energy and the extraction of useful hydromineral resources. A significant reserve for the extraction of geothermal energy is suspended wells in the territory of gas fields, of which there are several thousand on the territory of Ukraine. The developed oil and gas fields, even after their complete closure for the production of hydrocarbons, remain an important energy resource, primarily in the regions of their location, and in the development of state policy and appropriate measures at the state level, and the resource of the entire fuel and energy complex of Ukraine.