Organic Rankine cycles are now a mature technology for the conversion of low temperature geothermal sources into electricity. This paper deals with the evaluation of the levelized cost of electricity of the binary cycle power plants that have been optimized according to a pure thermodynamic objective in a previous work. Geothermal fluid inlet temperatures in the range 130-180°C are considered here and both super- and s ubcritical solutions are taken into account. The purchase costs for all plant components and subcomponents are evaluated using standard functions that can be found in the literature. Installation and indirect costs are also taken into account to obtain the overall cost of the plant. The relationships used are validated on aggregated economic data available from a real geothermal binary power plant that is used as reference. The levelized cost of electricity is finally calculated from the overall cost of the plant and its annual energy production.
Cost Evaluation of Organic Rankine Cycles for Low Temperature Geothermal Sources
MANENTE, GIOVANNI;
2011-01-01
Abstract
Organic Rankine cycles are now a mature technology for the conversion of low temperature geothermal sources into electricity. This paper deals with the evaluation of the levelized cost of electricity of the binary cycle power plants that have been optimized according to a pure thermodynamic objective in a previous work. Geothermal fluid inlet temperatures in the range 130-180°C are considered here and both super- and s ubcritical solutions are taken into account. The purchase costs for all plant components and subcomponents are evaluated using standard functions that can be found in the literature. Installation and indirect costs are also taken into account to obtain the overall cost of the plant. The relationships used are validated on aggregated economic data available from a real geothermal binary power plant that is used as reference. The levelized cost of electricity is finally calculated from the overall cost of the plant and its annual energy production.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
