Price and Cost Estimates for Hot Water Geothermal Energy

Abstract

The price of a seller might expect to receive of sale of hot water geothermal fluid has been estimated on the basis of its anticipated capacity to displace fossil fuels. Estimates for cost to establish the capability to produce hot water geothermal fluid area based on costs of wells, ultimate recoveries per well, and estimates of additional other costs, including taxes, that must be borne by a developer. Price and cost are both expressed on 1980 mls per pound mass basis in Equation (1) and (2) and are shown graphically in Figures 1 and 4 respectively. Recent trends in the prices of fossil fuels and in drilling costs suggest that price increases of 20-25% per year for geothermal fluid are to be expected, whereas cost wi increase only 10-15%.