Geothermal Energy Costs in Australia
- Key words
- Australia, unconventional geothermal resources, geothermal energy development
- Conference
- World Geothermal Congress
- Year
- 2015
- Session
- Economics and Financing
- Language
- English
- Paper number
- 04025
Full text
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Abstract
This paper presents forecasts for the costs of utility scale electricity production from geothermal energy in Australia. The costs were modeled using the System Advisory Model (SAM). Considering a range of play types the range of LCOE’s for geothermal energy in Australia in 2020 was forecast to be between $170/MWh and $330/MWh. Drilling costs are the biggest contributor to the LCOE for geothermal energy and these costs have increased significantly over the last decade. A scenario where technical and market factors are favourable for geothermal energy by 2030 was also considered, with the LCOE falling to between $99/MWh and $130/MWh.
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