USA: GRC Member Surveys the Geothermal Energy Industry - Part Four

Geothermal Insights IV: Postscript on Baseload Premium (LinkedIn)

by William Harvey, P.E., Project Engineer at POWER Engineers (GRC Member)

The third installment [of my series of articles] contained discussion regarding the challenges baseload geothermal power faces from intermittent renewables, and from the rapidly improving battery energy storage system (BESS) technology. At the time, Installment III did not attempt to put firm numbers on what the premium for baseload geothermal power could be.

In October 2017 we had the good fortune to convene for the Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) Annual Meeting, and in that session two papers by separate authors addressing this question quantitatively and more comprehensively were presented. So let's summarize some conclusions as I understand them.

Although not addressed by the authors, it seems future work could go into how these premiums are a function of the percentage of intermittent renewable penetration, rising as distortions increase. It also will be interesting in the future to see how BESS costs drop relative to the gap, and to what extent BESS-type arbitrage reduces the premium - the "efficient market" paradox.

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From the Global Geothermal News archives:

• Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - USA: GRC Member Surveys the Geothermal Energy Industry - Part One
• Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - Part Two
• Wednesday, September 20, 2017 - Part Three