Four Retrofits to Improve Profitability at Geothermal Power Plants

Multiple opportunities exist in existing geothermal power plants to change the design and operation of the plant to cost-effectively increase generation and improve plant profitability. None of these involve cutting edge technology. Direct contact condensers can be retrofitted to be more efficient, lowering condenser pressure and increasing net plant output. Integration of solar thermal collectors and gas-fired combined cycle into binary and steam geothermal power plants provides capacity and generation increase and that is low in CO2. H2S abatement facilities installed to serve a given load are oversized for current gas loads. Cross-country pipelines can allow a single H2S abatement facility to serve multiple plants. New and better designs can provide a positive ROI. The California power grid will soon suffer over-generation from Photovoltaics. Massive curtailments will be required. Existing geothermal power plants may have the potential to absorb a net two to three thousand Megawatts of excess power for many hours on a daily basis while protecting critical well infrastructure from thermal cycling.