Factors Critical to Economic Feasibility

Abstract

Geothermal energy development covers a huge range of resource technologies as well as a huge temperature range, and a host of alternative conversion technologies including space heating, district heating, industrial process heating and a number of generating options from dry steam to binary. Because of this, it is impossible to provide a guide and definite method of determining the economics of any given project. Each will be different depending upon the characteristics of the resource and how that resource will be used. It is possible, however, to provide insight into how various resource characteristics and technology choices drive project economics and the author has tried to cover all of the economic factors that are common to all projects.