Geothermal

2022 ATB data for geothermal are shown above. The base year hydrothermal costs are derived from actual geothermal power plant data. Near term enhanced geothermal system (EGS) costs are predictions for a package of technologies currently under development and have no calibration to actual project deployment, as at this time none exists. The future cost projections use bottom-up models derived from the analysis and results of the GeoVision: Harnessing the Heat Beneath our Feet report (DOE, 2019). The GeoVision analysis is a collaborative multiyear effort with contributors from industry, academia, national laboratories, and federal agencies. The GeoVision report updates resource potential estimates as well as recently published and projected capital and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs through evaluation of recent industry trends. It also predicted advancements in areas such as drilling efficiency and materials and EGS stimulation success. Drilling and EGS improvements enable reduced development timelines, CAPEX , and financing rates.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)-published 2021 U.S. Geothermal Power Production and District Heating Market Report confirms many of the industry trends reported in GeoVision (Robins et al., 2021). The base year hydrothermal LCOEs fall within the bounds of other publications and recent geothermal power purchase agreements. In addition, the market report confirmed that although EGS is not yet economical, technical progress continues to be made on the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. The terms for public geothermal power purchase agreements signed from November 2019 through September 2020 can be found in the table below (Robins et al., 2021).

Recent Public Geothermal Power Purchase Agreement Pricing

ProjectStateSize (MW)Pricing ($/MWh)Term (years)
Hell’s KitchenCalifornia407425
WhitegrassNevada367.5025
Star PeakNevada12.570.2525
Casa DiabloCalifornia166820
PunaHawaii467030

The three scenarios for technology innovation are:

Resource Categorization

Within the 2022 ATB, geothermal resources broadly consist of two main types: hydrothermal and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). Hydrothermal systems are naturally occurring zones of Earth-heated circulating fluid that can be exploited for electricity generation if certain minimum temperatures and flow rates are achieved for a given power plant technology. EGS exhibit naturally occurring zones of heat but lack sufficient fluid flow and require engineering to enhance permeability. These two resource types are then subdivided based on site specific resource characteristics and compatible power plant technology into two types of energy conversion processes used to generate geothermal electricity:

Hybrid plants, or a combination of binary and flash systems. Are employed in some locations but are not modeled here.

Examples using these plant types in each of the three resource categories (hydrothermal, NF-EGS, and deep EGS) are shown in the ATB.

Geothermal Resource and Cost Characteristics

TechnologyTemp (°C)>=200C150200135150
HydrothermalNumber of identified sites21221759
Total capacity (MW)15,3382,9918204,759
Average overnight capital cost, or OCC ($/kW)4,1568,6399,28717,060
Min OCC ($/kW)2,9084,4007,35811,574
Max OCC ($/kW)5,94237,04911,53125,934
Example of plant OCC ($/kW)4,4985,760N/A
NF-EGSNumber of sites1220
Total capacity (MW)787596
Average OCC ($/kW)10,75127,105
Min OCC ($/kW)8,66818,896
Max OCC ($/kW)14,93941,506
Example of plant OCC ($/kW)13,96632,255
Deep EGS (3–6 km)Number of sitesN/AN/AN/A
Total capacity (MW)100,000+
Average OCC ($/kW)26,37760,203
Min OCC ($/kW)17,82229,699
Max OCC ($/kW)41,002111,998
Example of plant OCC ($/kW)13,96632,255

OCC: overnight capital cost

The hydrothermal geothermal resource potential is concentrated in the western United States. The total mean potential estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2008 is 39,090 MW: 9,057 MW identified and 30,033 MW undiscovered (USGS, 2008). The resource potential identified at each site is based on available reservoir thermal energy information from studies conducted at the site (USGS, 2008). The undiscovered hydrothermal resource estimate is based on a series of geographic information system statistical models of the spatial correlation of geological factors that facilitate the formation of geothermal systems.

The USGS resource potential estimates for hydrothermal are used with the following modifications:

Map of identified hydrothermal sites and favorability of deep EGS in the United States

Map of identified hydrothermal sites and favorability of deep EGS in the United States

The EGS resource potential is concentrated in the western United States, but technology innovations as described in the Advanced Scenario would increase potential beyond the western United States. The total recoverable potential is greater than 100,000 MW: 1,493 MW of NF-EGS and the remainder from deep EGS. The NF-EGS resource potential is based on data from the USGS for EGS potential on the periphery of select identified hydrothermal sites (Augustine et al., 2019). The deep EGS resource potential ((Roberts, 2018); (Augustine, 2016)) is based on Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab temperature-at-depth maps and the methodology is from (MIT, 2006). The deep EGS favorability map above and many other geothermal resource maps can be created with NREL's Geothermal Prospector tool.

Scenario Descriptions

Summary of Technology Innovation by Scenario (2030)

Technology Description: Drilling efficiency improvements (e.g., using mechanical specific energy with polycrystalline diamond compact bits and limiting bit dysfunction leads to longer bit life) result in minor decreases in drilling costs and little to no timeline reduction.

Justification: Substantial increases in drilling ROP are unlikely without wider adoption of oil and gas technologies and new bit innovations.

Technology Description: Current well stimulation techniques do not consistently generate adequate economic flow rates of sustained flow from unsuccessful wells leading to little to no improvement of drilling success rate or CAPEX reduction.

Justification: Stimulation is cost-prohibitive and lacks zonal isolation. Both the precision and scale of stimulation must improve.

Technology Description: ROP and bit life are doubled. Timelines and consumption of drilling materials are reduced.

Justification: Cost modeling of drilling improvements along with limited successful field demonstrations and abundant oil and gas experience confirm this level of advancement is achievable (Lowry et al., 2017b) (Lowry et al., 2017a); (Hackett et al., 2020).

Technology Description: As in the Conservative Scenario, stimulation techniques remain cost-prohibitive.

Justification: To remain consistent with the GeoVision report (DOE, 2019), cost modeling for stimulation technology has yet to be performed for a mid-case scenario. Additionally, successful deployment of EGS technology is modeled as coupled with significant drilling advancements as lower drilling costs and improved directional drilling in hard rock environments will likely help enable EGS reservoir development.

Technology Description: ROP and bit life are increased fourfold over the Conservative Scenario. Wells are constructed as mono-bore wells using expandable casing. The increased speeds result in significantly shorter timelines and lower consumption of drilling related materials.

Justification: Ongoing Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, NREL, and other research (e.g., laser drilling and electric pulse research) is directed at reducing the cost, style, and duration of well drilling. Growing interest from the oil and gas sector is leading to knowledge transfer.

Technology Description: Stimulation success rate, control, and sustained flow rate advance to economic levels. EGS power plants are built with 100 MW of capacity. Permitting timelines have been reduced to reflect anticipated permit streamlining effects of a National Renewable Energy Coordination Office (RECO), as created in the 2020 Energy Act.

Justification: Ongoing EGS Collab, FORGE initiative, and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office-sponsored research is demonstrating stimulation techniques in hard rock environments, including hydraulic shearing, zonal isolation, and other techniques. Also, EGS developments are not resource-constrained, so larger plants will be more economical to build and operate.

Representative Technology

Performance Assumptions by Scenario

ScenarioRate of Penetration (ft/hr)Bit Life (hr)EGS Flow Rate (kg/s)
Conservative (2018)255040
Moderate5010040
Advanced10020080 flash/110 binary

Hydrothermal

Hydrothermal geothermal technologies encompass technologies for exploring for the resource, drilling to access the resource, and building power plants to convert geothermal energy to electricity. Technology costs depend heavily on the hydrothermal resource temperature and well productivity and depth, so much so that project costs are site-specific and a "typical" cost applied to any given site would be inaccurate. The 2022 ATB uses scenarios developed by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (Mines, 2013) for representative binary and flash hydrothermal power plant technologies.

The first scenario assumes a 175°C resource at a depth of 1.5 km with wells producing an average of 110 kg/s of geothermal brine supplied to a 30-MWe binary (organic Rankine cycle) power plant. The second scenario assumes a 225°C resource at a depth of 2.5 km with wells producing 80 kg/s of geothermal brine supplied to a 40-MWe dual-flash plant. These are mid-grade or "typical" temperatures and depths for binary and flash hydrothermal projects.

The 2022 ATB representative technologies fall in the middle to low end of the hydrothermal resources cost estimates typically deployed in Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model runs.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)

As with costs for projects that use hydrothermal resources, EGS resource project costs depend so heavily on the hydrothermal resource temperature and well productivity and depth that project costs are site-specific. The 2022 ATB uses scenarios developed by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (Mines, 2013) for representative binary and flash EGS power plants assuming current (immature) EGS technology performance metrics. The first scenario assumes a 175°C resource at a depth of 3 km with wells producing an average of 40 kg/s of geothermal brine supplied to a 25-MWe binary (organic Rankine cycle) power plant. The second scenario assumes a 250°C resource at a depth of 3.5 km with wells producing 40 kg/s of geothermal brine supplied to a 30-MWe dual-flash plant. These temperatures and depths are at the low-cost end of the EGS supply curve and would be some of the first developed.

Methodology

This section describes the methodology to develop assumptions for CAPEX, O&M, and capacity factor. For standardized assumptions, see labor cost, regional cost variation, materials cost index, scale of industry, policies and regulations, and inflation.

The site-specific nature of geothermal plant cost, the relative maturity of hydrothermal plant technology, and the very early-stage development of EGS technologies make cost projections difficult. The GeoVision scenarios were based on bottom-up analysis of potential cost and performance improvements. The inputs for these scenarios were developed by the national laboratories as part of the GeoVision effort and were reviewed by industry experts.

The cost and performance estimates are calculated using Geothermal Electricity Technology Evaluation Model (GETEM), a bottom-up cost analysis tool that accounts for each phase of development of a geothermal plant as follows:

Capital Expenditures (CAPEX)

Definition: For the ATB—and based on (EIA, 2016) and GETEM component cost calculations—the geothermal plant envelope is defined to include: