The Colorado Power and Carbon Administration Fee has printed a complete report on Colorado’s geothermal assets and potential utilization fashions.
The Colorado Power and Carbon Administration Fee (ECMC), the Colorado Geological Survey (CGS), and Teverra have printed a complete report on the geothermal assets and historical past of Colorado, a utilization and market evaluation, and an environmental and regulatory analysis of the state’s geothermal alternatives.
The complete report, “Geothermal in Colorado: Sources, Use Methods, and Affect Concerns,” could be accessed by way of this hyperlink. An Government Abstract can also be obtainable.
In early 2024, Teverra had been awarded a contract to conduct a complete evaluation of geothermal assets all through Colorado. Since then, the Colorado Power Workplace has introduced funding of $7.7 million for 35 progressive geothermal tasks, starting from warmth pump installations to geothermal energy technology.
A number of alternatives for geothermal in Colorado
One of many extra necessary conclusions from the report is that Colorado can make the most of a number of current applied sciences to make the most of its numerous geothermal temperatures. The report presents use circumstances for geothermal warmth pumps, direct use heating, and binary and excessive temperature electrical energy technology.
Low to reasonable temperature areas within the far NW Colorado, elements of SW Colorado alongside the Utah stateline, and most of jap Colorado are prime candidates for direct use and thermal power networks. Alternatively, geothermal electrical energy technology with binary energy plant expertise could be explored in areas such because the Higher Arkansas Valley, Raton Basin, Piceance Basin, San Juan Basin, and an jap scorching spot in Denver Basin.
In choose areas of the state, there may be potential for top temperature energy manufacturing with deeper drilling that can doubtless change into extra technically and commercially obtainable over time as applied sciences advance
Financial evaluation of utilization fashions
The report additionally consists of monetary modeling of three improvement eventualities for geothermal electrical energy manufacturing:
- Establishing a brand new effectively area for geothermal electrical energy manufacturing;
- Changing current wells into electrical energy producer; and
- Repurposing wells to generate scorching water for industrial, business, or residential use.
The evaluation encompassed 4 elementary financial efficiency measures: internet current worth (NPV), inner price of return (IRR), levelized price of electrical energy or warmth (LCOE or LCOH), and breakeven interval. Over a 30-year mission span, monetary projections factored in improvement and operational prices, leasing bills, taxes, low cost charges, and funding tax credit.
Total, the oil and fuel effectively conversion for thermal power possibility seems to be probably the most economical of the three circumstances
evaluated right here. If a number of wells in a given space could be transformed, there are additionally doubtless economies of scale that might enhance the worth of such a conversion course of, each for electrical energy technology and for warmth purposes. Lastly, for the brand new effectively case, extra detailed analysis of recent effectively drilling and completion methods holds potential for bettering the financial worth of such an strategy. Future enhancements in geothermal methods and drilling/completion expertise can probably cut back the price of these parts of the brand new effectively mannequin.
Regulatory work is ongoing
The report additionally touched on a number of different matters such because the environmental dangers related to geothermal improvement and the way these could be mitigated, in addition to the present regulatory panorama for geothermal in Colorado.
On the subject of regulatory devices, the Colorado ECMC is already collaborating on a examine with the Division of Water Sources (DWR) to determine remaining points that have to be addressed for the profitable deployment of geothermal applied sciences in Colorado. This report can be publicly obtainable by the thirty first of December 2024.
