Germencik: A Thoroughly Modern Flash Plant in Turkey

Abstract

The Germencik 45 MW dual-flash geothermal power station – a large new power station near Izmir – is the newest addition to Turkey´s renewable energy landscape. The plant, shown in Figure 1, was completed in Spring 2009 by the Turkish company Güri? and is operated by its subsidiary Gürmat. Power plant design was performed by POWER Engineers, Inc. of the USA. The chemical characteristics and energy content of geothermal resources varies widely from place to place, so design of the Germencik plant – as with geothermal plants everywhere – was customized to the resource. Specifically, the plant incorporates features and new technology in the steamfield, condenser, and gas removal systems directly tailored to improve efficiency, economy, and operational flexibility. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design approach and options considered for key plant aspects such as cycle selection, production well scaling reduction, and condenser/gas removal equipment. The success of the new technology employed in the steamfield and gas removal systems will be evaluated in more detail over the initial years of operation. Approaches such as these may be valuable new tools for economical plant design, and especially appropriate for the geothermal fluid characteristics of similar fields in Turkey.