A Prudent View of Geothermal Development in Italy by 2030

Abstract

The paper presents a prudent outlook on the possible development of geothermal applications in Italy for the next 15 years. We analyse the impact of current regulatory, technical, and economic constraints (e.g. the low oil cost) on the stall or stop of many initiatives in this field. Then, the minimum envision of geothermal growth up to 2030 is discussed for both electric generation and direct uses as a whole.
UGI, of course, hopes vividly that real development will outdo the minimum forecasts given in the paper: therefore, we will continue our actions aimed at addressing the geothermal development in the next future towards much more ambitious goals for both electric production and direct uses. The latter objectives are totally in line with the important potential of high and low-temperature resources of the country that are currently unexploited. In particular, the paper will stress how unconventional high-temperature systems might open much more important opportunities for electrical generation. Besides, we introduce the benefits of an integrated multi-source design methodology for moderate-to-low temperature projects.