This report is the third in a series of reports sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Program in which a range of water-related issues surrounding geothermal power production are evaluated. The first report made an initial attempt at quantifying the life cycle fresh water requirements of geothermal power-generating systems and explored operational and environmental concerns related to the geochemical composition of geothermal fluids. The initial analysis of life cycle fresh water consumption of geothermal power-generating systems identified that operational water requirements consumed the vast majority of water across the life cycle. However, it relied upon limited operational water consumption data and did not account for belowground operational losses for enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs). A second report presented an initial assessment of fresh water demand for future growth in utility-scale geothermal power generation. The current analysis builds upon this work to improve life cycle fresh water consumption estimates and incorporates regional water availability into the resource assessment to improve the identification of areas where future growth in geothermal electricity generation may encounter water challenges.
- XLSXAppendix B - EGS Stimulation Jobs from Literature.xlsx
- XLSXAppendix D1 - Geothermal Production Injection and Permit Data.xlsx
- XLSXAppendix D2 - Aboveground Operational Water Consumption in Geothermal Power Plants.xlsx
- XLSXTable 2 - Water Requirements for Observation Well Drilling.xlsx
- XLSXTable 4 - Water Requirements for Production and Injection Well Drilling.xlsx
- XLSXTable 5 - Summary of Water-Based Stimulation Activities from Literature.xlsx
- XLSXTable 6 - Chemical Stimulation Projects Found in the Literature.xlsx
- XLSXTable 7 - Flow Test and Circulation Test Water Requirements for EGS.xlsx
- XLSXTable 3 - Water Requirements for Exploration Well Drilling.xlsx
- XLSXTable 8 - EGS Operational Losses Belowground.xlsx
- PDFANL_EVS_R-12_8_Final.pdf