| Title | Options to Use Solar Heat to Enhance Geothermal Power Plant Performance |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hal GURGENCI |
| Year | 2015 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | power generation, solar energy, cooling towers |
| Abstract | Many future geothermal plant locations are located in dry regions of the world. This is especially true for future EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) locations. These are areas also blessed with high levels of solar incidence. The solar heat can be captured at different temperatures using different solar collector technologies. This makes it possible to consider a number of scenarios in which solar heat can be used to boost the geothermal plant performance. The Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence (QGECE) of the University of Queensland is investigating some of the most promising methods in which solar and geothermal heat can be combined. Most of this methods have been considered with a focus on future EGS plants but they may also be applicable to more conventional geothermal applications. The combination amounts more than the sums of the individual components in this instance. The paper will describe how solar and geothermal heat can be combined to generate more value than what can be generated by each source individually. The applications will include the following: * Boosting geothermal fluid temperatures to increase cycle conversion efficiencies * Enhancing the performance of natural draft dry cooling towers by using solar heat * Solar chilling of future supercritical CO2 EGS plants to maintain higher efficiencies |