| Abstract |
Today, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions has become a global priority. In line with the targets set by the United Nations and the European Union, efforts in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies have significantly increased in recent years. In geothermal power plants, during the extraction of hot water and steam from underground, naturally occurring gases within the reservoir are also released to the surface, leading to greenhouse gas emissions. Failure to reinject these gases underground not only contributes to increased emissions but also causes a drop in the reservoir pressure, which can lead to reduced plant efficiency and electricity generation. To address these issues, the GECO (Geothermal Emission Control) project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon2020 framework, aims to demonstrate the feasibility of reinjecting separated gases back into the reservoir. Within this scope, a NCG (Non Condensable Gas) reinjection system was implemented at the Kızıldere-3 geothermal site in Turkey. This system dissolves separated NCG, which is highly dominated by CO2 in the Kızıldere field, into geothermal fluid before re-injection, offering a potential solution to reduce emissions while maintaining reservoir performance and long-term productivity in geothermal operations. In this paper, the integrated system of the GECO project has been simply analysed within the economical and technical perspective. This paper also discusses the further studies, including scalability of this project application with carbon markets. |