Optimizing Revenue of a Geothermal System with Respect to Operation and Expansion

Abstract

The goal of this work is to conduct a decision-making tool that optimizes present value of profit when utilizing low temperature geothermal resources. The profit is measured as the difference between operating cost and price of energy. The usual approach in these studies, regarding the behaviour of the resource, is the lumped parameter model (LPM) which models pressure change in a geothermal reservoir with respect to given production history and drawdown. Here, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) approach on the LPM will be used. The constraints are sustainability, demand and price of energy. A methodology for a quantitative definition of sustainability is established and coupled into the model. Demand and price of energy is simulated stochastically to account for uncertainty in future propagation using historical data. Results will include model comparison along with profit and lifetime under various conditions for different wells and values of parameters.