Geothermal Energy Use in Russia

Abstract

Geothermal energy use is one of the best approaches towards sustainable global development. In using geothermal energy, Russia takes advantage of its very high and low temperatures. The country’s electricity is generated by geothermal power plants (GeoPP) found mainly in the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands. It uses a lot of its low temperature geothermal resources for heat pumps in several of its regions and especially in its Eastern part and Ural.

There are two possible ways of using geothermal resources depending on structure and properties of thermal waters: heat/power and mineral extraction. The mineral-extraction method is best for geothermal waters, containing valuable components in industrial quantities. The most significant deposits of thermal waters represent the brines containing between 35 and 400 plus g/l of salts. In such situations, there are also mineral raw materials for many chemical elements.