The agreement came after Supreme Energy has won the tender for the concession (WKP) and the licensing of geothermal (IUP) in Rantau Dedap PT Supreme Energy, the company responsible for development future of the project.

Supreme Energy and IPR-GDF Suez have moved closer to Marubeni to bring in an Indonesian geothermal set of technical knowledge, expertise in geothermal and experiences of development and operation of power stations IPP (Independent Power Producer ) in Indonesia.

PT Supreme Rantau Dedap Energy will negotiate an energy supply (Power Purchase Agreement – PPA) with PT. Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) on sales of electricity from the geothermal resource prior to the commencement of exploration activities and development of the power plant, if successful exploration.

The proposed geothermal power plant with a capacity of 220 MW, located in the area of Rantau Dedap, fits into the second program of accelerated development of the power of the Indonesian Government.

The program covers a total of 10 000 MW. The plant will thus help to meet the growing demand for electricity in the country using renewable energy resources.

GDF Suez is already active in Indonesia in the fields of electricity, oil and gas, and water-related services. In Indonesia, IPR-GDF Suez is the leading independent producer with 1,280 MW of assets in operation and 850 MW under construction (Paiton).

Prof. Patrizio Signanini, University of Chieti, had the idea to use this huge boiler to produce geothermal energy. Water that is close to overheating of the magma over 300 ° C and Professor Signanini imagined that if we could dig a tube capture to go to fetch her ​​for operating steam turbines and therefore electricity generators of 200 megawatts of power. Cold water would be reinserted in the oceanic crust using a borehole.

Prof. Patrizio Signanini found a partner in industry: The firm Eurobuilding, an SME markets that already have knowledge in the mining and drilling in the marine environment has been since 2005 a research group including researchers from the Institute for Marine Geology IGM-CNR, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology INGV and University of Chieti and Bari, and they have published work demonstrating the presence of hundreds of millions of cubic meters geothermal fluids underground. They managed to locate these “reservoirs” and draw a “ray” of Mount Marsili.

The firm Eurobuilding obtained the exclusive concession in 2009 on this sector from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. It gives until 2013 to dig the well pilot 800 meters deep. The technology of oils are used and adapted to geothermal, but with the added security in case of leakage, damage to the ecosystem would be less because it is only seawater

The advantage is that this technique, in addition to producing clean, renewable energy, operates continuously (unlike wind and solar). If governments allow the development of this technology, geothermal energy could account for 5 to 7% of national energy mix and become the second largest source of renewable energy after hydro-electric power. And if the cost of the facilities is more than 2 billion euros, the estimated cost per kilowatt hour is reasonable enough, two times cheaper than PV.

At the same time, it should be noted that Lardarello, one of the two Italian sites (with the Mont Amiata) already producing geothermal energy, will be inaugurated in the coming weeks Geothermal Museum, a center dedicated to technology and exploitation of geothermal centenary of Tuscany. A series of photographs, images and reconstructions will be exhibited on this site as the Etruscans called “Valley of the devil” until the French merchant Francesco de Larderel there launches an extraction of Boron salt.

The science is booming in research organizations and enterprises faced with increasing demands for energy.

Deep geothermal energy has the distinction of providing abundant resources around the world (hence a high total potential). Environmental footprint is small and it has a reliable basis for the search for energy. Deep geothermal energy also has the advantage of not depending on weather conditions (rain, wind, sun …). In Norway, Rock Energy company is currently investigating the energy use in deep hot rock fractures. The principle of this operation process is to create the loop circulation of water from two wells after testing the geological and thermal characteristics of the site. One injection well is drilled vertically reaching the depth of 5000m. The second producing well is drilled obliquely. It reaches 3500m. Thus water is piped into the injection well. But the deeper you drill into the crust, the more temperature you get (on average, temperatures rising about 20-30 degrees per kilometer). The injected water will squeeze the pores of the rock where it is heated. The water will then go up by the producing well to fuel the plant and generate electricity.

The benefit for Rock Energy is that the company uses drilling techniques developed by the oil industry in the North Sea. It signed the first contract with Hafslund Fjernvarme to build a thermal power plant of 5 MW which can be connected to the heating system of Oslo and was also elected coordinator of Section Energi21 geothermal program.

This technology has a geothermal potential because, unlike the hydrothermal geothermal, it does not require the presence of deep aquifer. This technique can be applied everywhere. Thus, there would be 125 000 km2 in Europe with sufficient geological and thermal characteristics to implement such technology. Finally, this technology can be used for generating electricity, heating or air conditioning. No other deep geothermal technology is less dependent on subsurface conditions.

In the given area, close to the Pacaya volcano, there are nine geothermal wells, drilled during the 90s, with depths ranging from 170 to 610 meters, two of which are currently producing steam for the local industry use.

Indeed, Ceibillo is located in an industrial area with easy access to major distribution lines and electrical transmission.

According the geophysical and technical data, six of these nine wells are known to have temperatures ranging from 185 º C to 204 ° C. In addition, samples of fluid and rock cuttings suggest a reserve heat deeper and more permeable, with temperatures ranging from 210 º C to 230 ° C.

As announced in a statement, U.S. Geothermal Guatemala has already completed the previous deposit, and made the transmission and environmental studies for the project. The planning and future studies also include the exploration and testing of at least four additional prospects that include fumaroles and hot springs that are within the concession area.

General Studies show that Guatemala has a large untapped potential of geothermal energy up to 4000 MW.

There is further expansion on the horizon. GEA has identified 6442.9 MW of new U.S. geothermal power plant capacity under development, though some of those may not go forward. However, there are seven projects with an estimated 125 MW of capacity that have drilling and facility construction underway. Those projects include two in California, totaling 85 MW; one in Florida generating 0.2-1.0 MW; three in Nevada, totaling 39.4 MW; and one in Oregon producing 0.2 MW. The Florida and Oregon projects will be the first geothermal projects in those states. One of those projects—at Jay Oil Field in Florida—will use the hot water produced by oil and gas wells to generate power. Two such projects started up in Louisiana and Mississippi in 2009, and more are planned for Louisiana, Nevada, and Wyoming.

There are currently three types of plants: Dry steam plant, Flash power plant and a Binary power plant. Dry steam plant operates the dry steam reservoirs, which produce very little water. The electricity is produced by directly piping the steam to push the turbines of the power plant. F;ash power plant is used to collect energy from natural reservoirs, where the temperature range is much lower 300-700 degrees F. The water is brought to the surface from the deep reservoir through the production well, while being released from the pressure, so some water is flashes into steam and transferred into a separator, which then spins the turbine and generates the electricity. The third type of plant, the binary plant can be used in even lower temperatures, as it is able to collect energy from a source where the temperatures range from 250 to 360 degrees F. This plant uses a heat exchanger and a liquid, that has a lower boiling temperature than water, e.g. opentane, which then vaporizes and forces the turbines to spin generating electricity. The vapor, like water is then re-condensed and returned into a heat exchanger, like the water returns to the natural reservoir. No waste is produced, because it is, as well as in the other systems above, a closed cycle with no emissions into the air.

That is why type of energy production is considered one of the cleanest.

The three types of plants we talked about above use underground water and steam from natural reservoirs and while they are only present in places with specific geological environment, underground hot dry rock is available everywhere. A new way of harnessing geothermal energy is currently being improved. The new type of power plant uses hot rocks buried very deep under the ground to heat up water via heat exchangers and piping, the cycle is basically the same, but more complex due to the more complicated heat transfer. With improving drilling technology geothermal energy from hot dry rock could be available virtually anywhere and in the near future we will be able to find out the true capacity of earth’s heat resources without harming the environment.

Although geothermal power plants are not common everywhere in the world due to their costs, they are used in most of the developed countries. The biggest producers and utilizes of geothermal energy are United States, New Zealand, Italy, Iceland, Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.

Geothermal energy is considered renewable, because it is replenished in nature by rainfall, but the process is very complex. The basic thing one must know is that the heat (geothermal energy) is produced inside and around the earth’s core. Energy is harnessed from heat within the earth. Technically it is the steam and hot water created inside the earth, which can be used to heat buildings or produce electricity.

The heat from the earth’s core flows outward and then transfers into the surrounding layers of rock, when temperatures and pressures become high enough, rocks become magma. Magma’s density is less than the density of the surrounding rocks, so it rises slowly towards the earth’s surface, bringing the heat with it and producing the steam. Not all magma reaches earth’s surface, but when it does, it comes to the surface in a liquid form which is known as lava. The magma, that stays under is heating it’s surroundings: rocks, underground streams of water, rainwater, etc.) – the temperature reaches 700 degrees F. These heated streams sometimes reach the surface in the form of hot springs or geysers, though mostly they stay buried underground, forming natural thermal reservoirs.

The geothermal energy was used from earliest times to heat buildings, cook and cure diseases.

In France geothermal waters have been used to heat up homes since 1960s.

Nowadays, the use of this type of energy is more effective and with the help of geology, geochemistry and complicated engineering most of the underground reservoirs can be reached and the potential of these sources can be used to its fullest.

First stage is finding a perfect site to drill a geothermal production well. The second stage is the drilling and construction of the well itself. The third stage is building a power plant or a collection plant around. So when the hot water reaches the surface through the well, it is used to either generate electricity via a power plant or is saved for non-electrical purposes.

The power plant uses the steam to spin its turbine generators which then convert this power to electricity. The “used” water from the turbine is then returned to the natural reservoir via an injection well and is reheated, so that the pressure in the reservoir remains unaltered.

This is the basic principle of how the geothermal collection works. Next time we will talk about the types of geothermal plants, where on earth they can be used and what is the energy potential of geothermal sources worldwide.