Cost Contributors to Geothermal Power Generation

Abstract

The US Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office (DOE-GTO) has developed the tool Geothermal Electricity Technologies Evaluation Model (GETEM) to assess the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of power produced from geothermal resources. Recently modifications to GETEM allow the DOE-GTO to better assess how different factors impact the generation costs, including initial project risk, time required to complete a development, and development size. The model characterizes the costs associated with project risk by including the costs to evaluate and drill those sites that are considered but not developed for commercial power generation, as well as to assign higher costs to finance those activities having more risk. This paper discusses how the magnitude of the different contributions to the LCOE are impacted by different development scenarios, including those having higher project risk. The cost distributions presented include capital cost recovery for the exploration, confirmation, well field completion and power plant construction, as well as the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. The paper will present these cost distributions for both EGS and hydrothermal resources.