With numerous workshops and forums on topics of shallow and deep geothermal energy, this years Geothermal Congress DGK will offer to its participants again a manifold program. In his “Call for Papers”, the German Geothermal Association (GtV-BV) is now asking for submissions of papers for oral presentations at the congress. Proposed themes are among others “Financing and investing”, “Quality assurance and new guidelines for shallow geothermal energy” as well as “Geothermal energy as a part of local energy concepts”. The Deadline for abstracts is 31st July 2012.

A particular focus of the DGK 2012 will be put on developments in the congress’ partner country Hungary. But also geothermal projects in the region of Karlsruhe will be presented in field trips on the last day of the event. With the “Science Bar”, the GtV-BV addresses especially to young scientists and will award a prize among its participants.

The “Call for Papers” and further information on the Geothermal Congress DGK 2012 are available on www.der-geothermiekongress.de.

Simultaneously with the congress, the trade exhibition geoENERGIA will take place from 14^th to 15^th November 2012. Here, companies as well as scientific institutions will present their technologies and introduce new developments and research results. For more details please check the website www.geoenergia.de.

The video is presented by Wasabi Energy in a corporate video featuring the geothermal power plant of Unterhaching. The plant utilizes a Kalina Cycle binary system built by Siemens and produces power and heat for the local community.

Several EGS projects have already confirmed their participation for the poster exhibition, among others the EGS project at Bochum.

For further information please contact agentur@enerchange.de

The conference will take place May 25, 2012 in Freiburg Germany. More information via: www.icegs.eu

Sinopec Group is China’s largest petroleum and petrochemical company and the fifth largest company in the world according to the Fortune Global 500 for 2011. Its main operations are related to the production and distribution of oil, gas, coal and other sources of energy, along with a variety of related operations and various chemical industries. In recent years, the company has directed its attention to harnessing geothermal power and sustainable energy production through its subsidiary Sinopec Star Petroleum Company Limited, which has a 51% holding in SGE together with the 49% holding of Orka Energy. Orka Energy became involved in the project last year when it acquired the operations of Geysir Green Energy and REI.

SGE has about 260 employees, and the company currently heats in excess of 6 million m² of commercial and residential buildings with geothermal power. The newly made agreement allows for the company’s owners to invest up to an additional USD 60 million going forward. The plan will expand heating operations to a target of 30 million m² by the end of 2015 and 100 million m² by the end of 2020. In addition to this, a project will be launched related to electricity production and to other environmentally friendly uses of geothermal power.

Fu Chengyu, Chairman of the Board of Sinopec Group said, “I’m extremely pleased with the ambitious objectives set by SGE for the coming years. Cooperation with Orka Energy has worked well, and it is both enjoyable and inspires confidence to have Icelandic ingenuity and knowledge by our side for the tasks ahead of us.”

Haukur Hardarson, Chairman of the Board of Orka Energy remarked, “This agreement underlines the good cooperation that has existed between the parties in the past years and the reciprocal trust that has developed between us. We will make every effort to employ, in a variety of ways, the significant knowledge that exists in Iceland on harnessing geothermal energy, both through consultancy and through participation by Icelandic parties in the development and operation of geothermal projects throughout the world.”

Source: Release of Orka Energy

The funding is given to the National Energy Authority and Rannís in Iceland and eight European Energy Agencies. The Icelandic Energy Authority will be the project manager and receive EUR 600,000 ($780,000) of the funding.”

In cooperation with GEORG (Geothermal research group) and Rannis, NEA applied for the GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET grant from the European Commission last winter. Behind the application, are in addition to NEA and Rannis eight institutions from the following eight countries in Europe: The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Slovakia. When choosing the countries for the cooperation, the main focus was on objectives regarding the use of geothermal and how their plans would go hand in hand with the goal of the European Union to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.

The GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET cooperation will last for four years and it is anticipated that the project will eventually support geothermal research in Europe. That could lead to greater cooperation between energy agencies and ministries in Europe and make it possible for them to work on common goals. One of the objectives of GEOTHERMAL ERA NET is to create a European Geothermal Database.

GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET is different from other conventional research projects since in this case the grant is for cooperation and coordination of the research plan of the countries involved but not for direct research. The GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET is the first step towards a coordinated research in the EU through the so-called SET-plan (European Strategic EnergyTechnology Plan).

Source: National Energy Authority of Iceland

EnBW is a large power utility in Germany. Does EnbW see geothermal energy as an active part of its business and if so where is EnBW active in the sector?

EGS is a classical research and development topic for EGS. Conventional hydrothermal plants have already been able to be economically viable, particularly around the city of Munich in Southern Germany.

The focus of EnbW though lies though on the Upper Rhine Valley in the South-West of Germany, but the company also follows closely international activities in this segment.

EGS is often described as the great future for the geothermal sector. How does EnBW look at EGS?

As it allows the utilization of geothermal energy independent of geological conditions, EGS is very attractive for EnBW. Therefore EnBW not only looks at EGS for potential deployment, but actively participates in the development of the technology at the project of Soultz.

EGS is still considered too costly for wider application. What do you consider as the key cost elements for EGS projects?

In reality EGS are technically not much more expensive than conventional hydrothermal projects. An additional cost factor is only the hydraulic stimulation. The further deployment and development of EGS projects is therefore less dependent on needed investments rather than social acceptance. Therefore, EnBW puts a strong effort on his particular topic. An example is the project by the European Union called GEOLEC, but also several initiatives by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment that EnBW participates in.

When do you think will the first commercial EGS project produce geothermal power successfully ?

The economic success of EGS projects depends particularly on the local geology. In regions with great conditions, EGS can already today provide a considerable contribution to the profitability of a geothermal power plant.  In this context classic steam resources come to mind.

Today, low enthalpy regions, typical for central Europe, already provide an economical application of EGS technology for the distribution of geothermal heat depending on local conditions, such as the existence of a heat distribution infrastructure. This is based on research by the University of Stuttgart and EnBW.

For the generation of power from EGS projects though, particular frameworks such as incentive schemes in the form of e.g. the Feed-in-Tariff system in Germany, are a crucial prerequisite.

EGS technologies can also be applied to conventional projects, e.g. to help stimulate dry wells. How do you see the chances for EGS in this context for the next few years?

Personally, I don´t see EGS as a “plan B” for conventional geothermal projects. Realistically, EGS projects require much higher planning effort, such as the specific technical determination of the geological prerequisites and the corresponding drilling. Therefore I don´t believe an upgrade from conventional to EGS will be successful.

What markets will be the fastest in the application of EGS technology?

Nations with a high demand for energy from renewable sources are likely to be the first, as intermediate results of the GEOLEC project by the EU show. I also think that EGS technology will be applied increasingly for efficiency increases in regions with natural steam resources.

What position has Germany when it comes to EGS?

From an early time on, Germany has supported the demonstration project in Soultz, with scientists, but also through financial support by the German federal government and various utilities such as EnBW. The experience gained from the project guarantee a considerable know-how advantage.

It is therefore not surprising that the team of Soultz is sought-after for international conferences and meetings.

Australian Geodynamics will present the Innamincka Deeps IV project in the Cooper Basin via a vide-conference. Part of that presentation will be discussion about the corrosion and blow-out at the Habanero 3 well in April 2009.

Currently, Geodynamics is drillikng Habanero 4 and has reached a depth of 2,256 m.

The conference will feature a large number of key speakers talking about the learning curve from EGS projects world-wide.

It is the first EGS conference in a series supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Details about the conference: www.icegs.eu

Out industry is struggling with a lack of financing, which has to do in parts with a lack of government support, but also in our difficulties of portraying a value proposition or at least in people simply not buying into it. I know that this can be controversial, but I think we can all agree that things are not what they could be.

In parts I believe we can approach the issue by looking at how we do business and how we model it.

Companies in other industries constantly re-evaluate their business model and they actually need to do so, I guess a good example is the mobile phone sector. Being once the market and innovation leader in mobile phone technology, Nokia and RIM (Blackberry) is now trailing Apple that has focused its business of combining content with technology binding customers to its offerings. So clearly Apple has re-invented the phone technology business and turned from a computer manufacturer to a media player and then to a phone producer, with now most of its income coming from a product that wasn´t even seen as a product possibility for a computer manufacturer years back.

There are various other examples, but here might not be the space to talk about it.

In recent weeks I have been talking with various firms about the Business Model Canvas created and promoted by the bestselling business book, Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder, as a tool for companies to evaluate and rethink their business model. Looking at the actual value proposition and the elements of a business model in this structured approach helps companies to rethink they way they position themselves and do business.

As part of my activities in Iceland, I have been trying to get Alexander to come to Iceland to give one of his Designing Business Model workshops and we were finally able to arrange for a workshop with him on May 31, 2012 in Iceland.

Who should attend: Anyone looking for hands on tools to apply to their business model. You could be a Senior Executive, Strategist, Innovation Manager, Entrepreneur, Consultant, or Business Coach.

Date & Time: Thursday, May 31, 2012, 9:00-17:00
Location: Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland
Pricing: ISK 136,795 (ISK 109,000 + vsk)

There are limited spaces available, so secure your place now and register today!

Overview and program

Online Registration

If you are not able to attend this or the other workshops, check out the books preview on www.businessmodelgeneration.com/book. You can also download a copy of the Business Model Canvas .

Sinopec said the two will seek to grow their joint venture, Shaanxi Green Energy Geothermal Development Co Ltd, aiming to expand geothermal energy heating to at least 100 million square meters of house floor by 2020 in China.

The two are also bidding to build their joint venture into a world-class technology provider that integrates research, development and applications, according to Sinopec.

Geothermal energy is a clean energy that can be used for heating homes and generating electricity. China is rich in geothermal energy resources, the development and use of which will be crucial for the nation’s energy savings and its building an environmentally friendly society.”

Source: China Daily

Esto incluye las tecnologías conocidas como sistemas de roca seca caliente (Hot Dry Rock, HDR) o sistemas de roca fracturada (Hot Fractured Rock, HFR) así como la pre-existencia de reservorios mecánicamente estimulados como el de Landau en Alemania. “Para que la energía geotérmica tenga una mayor contribución dentro del mundo energético es fundamental el uso de la tecnología obtenida a través de los sistemas EGS. El objetivo de ICEGS es mostrar el estado actual de la tecnología y las medidas adicionales necesarias para la viabilidad económica de los sistemas EGS “ ha comentado el Dr. Jochen Schneider, director de Enerchange.

ICEGS está compuesta por socios científicos procedentes de  instituciones como, el GFZ, centro alemán de investigación de Geociencias que cuentan con el Prof. Dr. Ernst Huenges y el Dr. David Bruhn, el Dr. Albert Genter procedente del GEIE exploitation minière de la Chaleur, el Prof. Dr. Thomas Kohl del instituto de tecnología de Karlsruhe y el Dr. Thomas Kölbel del EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg. El ministerio federal alemán de medio ambiente apoya a ICEGS con fondos procedentes del sexto programa de investigación energético de energías renovables.

ICEGS se compone de tres partes. La primera parte se centrará en las experiencias iniciales a cerca de la estimulación de yacimientos geotérmicos en la década de 1970. El Prof. Dr. W. Jefferson Tester hará una presentación sobre el primer  proyecto realizado en Fenton Hill, Nuevo México (Estados Unidos). Además, se realizarán presentaciones de otras experiencias obtenidas en EGS como son, los proyectos en Le Mayet-sur-Montagne y Soultz-sous-Forêts en Francia, Basilea en Suiza y los proyectos de Landau, Groß Schönebeck  y Insheim en Alemania.

La segunda parte de la jornada mostrará el panorama actual de los sistemas EGS. Los temas a tratar en este apartado son la exploración, estimulación y la sismicidad inducida en EGS. Por último, el Dr. Thomas Kölbel del “German Energy Supplier EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg” realizará una presentación acerca de los factores que influyen en el coste de los proyectos EGS. A su vez, se realizará una mesa redonda donde se podrá comentar todo lo relacionado con la parte económica y las medidas necesarias a adoptar para que la tecnología EGS consiga un mayor progreso. La conferencia será traducida simultáneamente del alemán al inglés y viceversa.

ICEGS está previsto que se realice cada año en distintos lugares de Alemania. Para la primera conferencia de ICEGS la cercanía con la reciente conferencia celebrada unos días antes “8ª Conferencia Internacional de Geotermia (IGC)”, dará la oportunidad a los participantes de poder visitar este evento. Para la conferencia IGC se esperan más de 250 participantes procedentes de más de 20 países.

Para obtener más información  acerca de ICEGS (inscripción, programa…) pueden acceder a su Web en www.icegs.eu

Los organizadores del evento han preparado una introducción del programa.

Escrito por A.Ormad

The organizers of the event now released a presentation introducing the event and the program. The conference will feature 3 main keynotes with Prof. Dr. Ladislaus Rybach of ETH Zurich, Prof. Dr. Jeff Tester of Cornell University and Prof. Dr. Nicholas Davatzes of Temple University, as well as a number of  industry presentations by high profile representatives.

The conference just released the following introduction video.

Conference Program

To register for the event and for more details, see www.icegs.eu

Carbon Recycling International (CRI) is a developer and operator enabling carbon dioxide capture and conversion. The company uses its patented production process utlizing hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce renewable methanol which can be directly blended up to 3% with gasoline according to the EU/ EEA fuel quality directive.

The company has been operating a pilote scale plant in its laboratory based on its patented process for CO2 to liquid fuels. In late 2011, the company commissioned the world’s first commercial scale plant in the world.

The CO2 feedstock and renewable power for producing hydrogen (H2) are both supplied by the geothermal power plant at Svartsengi.

The “George Olah Plant” was completed in cooperation with Jacobs Engineering, Mannvit, HS Orka and the municipality of Grindavík.

The company will procued about 5 million liters per year, fueling about 2.5% of the Icelandic gasoline market. It uses about 5 MW in power generation capacity per year (around 40,000 MWh per year) recycling ca. 5,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

As I was told some time ago by the company’s CEO K-C Tran, the Svartsengi is a very unique location. The quality of the CO2 emitted by the geothermal plant and the power that can be used for the operation make this a very special operation. It helps decrease CO2 emissions of the geothermal plant, utilizing green power to create a green fuel. A win-win for all involved.

Congratulations to Carbon Recycling International and the team.

Company website

The cable between the UK and Iceland would have to be 1,000-1,500 km long and would be the longest in the world.

There is a web of sea-floor cables (interconnectors) planned that would connect the UK to a Europe-wide supergrid and allow combining wind and wave power of northern Europe with solar projects in southern Europe and north Africa.

Greece is one of the countries looking at providing solar power to help countries filling the gap of abolishing nuclear power generation from their energy supply mix.

Interconnector cables can be laid very quickly – at over 30km per day – but constitute an engineering challenge. Each kilometer contains about 800 tonnes of copper. Therefore one needs substantial power plants to justify an investment like this.

An example for an interconnector is the Britain Netherland Interconnector that opened in 2011. The cost of this was GBP 500 million. The Iceland-UK connection would be substantially more expensive.

The Guardian provides a good overview picture on existing and proposed interconnectors. The picture and further details can be found via the link below.

Source: The Guardian

With the policy paper, EGEC is portraying the main implications of the Energy Roadmap for the European geothermal energy sector and provides key recommendations for EU and national policy makers on needed alterations to the Roadmap. It further looks at a potentially successful post-2020 energy framework.

Bearing in mind the mere illustrative nature of the scenario analysis undertaken by the Commission, this EGEC policy paper on the European Commission’s Energy Roadmap 2050 serves the following three main purposes: a) to analyse in-depth not only the Communication, but also the Impact assessment of the Roadmap; b) to illustrate its main implications for the geothermal sector and; c) to put forward recommendations for EU and national policy-makers in order to further improve the Roadmap and to elaborate a successful post-2020 energy framework.

In the key recommendations, EGEC is asking for geothermal to be allocated higher Research and Development funds to help the industry to become competitive. Furthermore EGEC asks for heating and cooling to be given a more detailed look when it comes to statistical data and modelling.

For the full postion paper of EGEC, click here (pdf)

Source: Release via email

Therefore the annual Conference on Renewable Heating and Cooling to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark April 26-27, 2012 is an important event and has been reported on by ThinkGeoEnergy before. Denmark represents a perfect place to show the experience in the District Heating and Cooling sector. Almost 50% of the total energy consumption in the European Union is related to the generation and distribution of heat so, that’s the reason why these two platforms have decided to develop this conference.

The RHC-Platform involving stakeholders from the biomass, geothermal and solar thermal sector “aims at playing a decisive role in maximizing synergies and strengthening efforts towards research, development and technological innovation which will consolidate Europe’s leading position in the sector”. The Geothermal technology panel is managed by EGEC, the European Geothermal Energy Council.

Euroheat & Power covers “all aspects related to District Heating and District Cooling (DHC) and related energy sources and technologies including combined heat and power (CHP)”

During these two days the attendees will enjoy different sessions, speeches and discussions. A geothermal technology session will be held under the moderation of Pierre Ungemach (GPC IP) with issues such as;

• Recent market developments in geothermal heating & cooling (Burkhard Sanner, EGEC )
• Geothermal Strategic Research Agenda (Javier Urchueguia, GEOPLAT )
• Latest and future developments in geothermal District Heating (Christian Boissavy, AFPG )
• Geothermal District Heating and Cooling in Vienna (Christian Boissavy, AFPG )

The conference program and the online event registration are available on the website.

We would like to highlight the visit to the Amager Geothermal Plant organized by EGEC in Copenhagen on April 25^th. This visit will take place a day before, so if you are interested in attending you must be registered to the conference.

Written by A.Ormad

Before to define the importance of the geothermal energy we would like to introduce the Danish district heating history marked by two factors, wastes and the lack of fuel highlighting this extract from the Danish Board of District Heating.

“During the Second World War the lack of diesel oil made it difficult to maintain the heat supply from the combined heat and power plants, and some plant owners were therefore forced to establish back-up heating, using solid fuel heat-only boilers. After the normalization of the oil deliverances, these plants represented excess capacity and therefore created a basis for expanding the heating supply networks”

This videos shows a closer look about the Danish District Heating history

Chapter 2: Fuel flexibility

Chapter 3: Danish Experience

To understand the government’s announcement we have to know the key success factors based in 5 pillars;

1. – Copenhagen lead the way

In Denmark the 60% of the households are heated with district heat from district-heating plants and co-generation plants but if we focus in Copenhagen, more than 98% of the heat demand is covered by district heating with 1.500 Km of double-piped net and more than 50 peak load boiler plants. In 2009 the composition of fuels in the Denmark district heating (including domestic water) production was;

• Biomass: 38.7%
• Other renewables 1.4%
• Natural gas: 29.6%
• Coal: 18.9%
• Oil: 4.5%
• Wastes, non-renewable: 6.8%

In this link appear all the district heating installations.

2. – Regulatory framework

With more than 400 members the Danish District Heating Association facilitate the cooperation between companies and lobby for their interests helping to contribute into the correct development of the district heating framework. In the 80´ties a heat planning was launched in Denmark with the obligation to connect all the buildings to the network.

3. – Financial incentives

The maxim is, if you want to produce heat based on fossil fuels you’ll be taxed. By contrast, there are incentives if the heat is produced from renewable sources

4. – Energy saving policies

The buildings represent between the 30 and 40 % of the total Danish energy consumption so in order to achieve those objectives this kind of policies are crucial. Initiatives like “Voluntary agreements on energy efficiency”, “Energy labelling for large and small buildings” and “Reduction of standby consumption” are promoted by the Danish Energy Agency.

5. – Symbiosis between Public and Private

The political class has seen the importance to promote the investigation and innovation. The symbiosis between the private sector and the promotion of policies from the public sector to increase the energy efficiency has made from Denmark an exporter of solutions. Logstor, Danfoss, Grundfos or Cowi are examples of leading companies worldwide

What about geothermal energy?

An investigation carried out by the Metropolitan Geothermal Alliance has shown that there is enough geothermal energy (in the licence area) to satisfy the district heating need of 30-50 % of dwellings in Copenhagen for several thousand years.

According to the Danish Energy Agency, for every 1.000 m of depth the temperature increases between 25 and 30°C (geothermal gradient) and  “ Throughout much of Denmark, there are porous and permeable sandstone layers from which geothermal heat can be produced for district heating purposes. However, the sandstone layers become less porous and permeable with depth, so although the layers, and therefore the water contained in the layers, become hotter with depth, there is a maximum depth at which it ceases to be cost-effective to extract geothermal heat. In Denmark, experience has shown that this limit is normally around a depth of 2.500 m”

Currently, two geothermal plants are in service (Thisted and Amager) and a third plant is planned to be taken into operation in Sonderborg.

Other project is underway but the geothermal production only represents the 1% of the district heating needs so if the Danish Government wants to cover the 100% through renewable energy by 2035, geothermal energy should play a bigger role.

Sources

Danish Board of District Heating

Danish Energy Agency

Danish District Heating Association

Written by A.Ormad

This comprises the technologies formerly known as Hot Dry Rock or Hot Fractured Rock as well as pre-existing reservoirs that are mechanically stimulated like the one in Landau, Germany. „For a significant contribution of geothermal energy to the Energy Turnaround it is essential to use the technology of Enhanced Geothermal Systems. The aim of this ICEGS is to show the current state of the technology and the further steps that are necessary for an economic realization of EGS-projects“ Dr. Jochen Schneider, Director of Enerchange.

Scientific partners of ICEGS are the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences with Prof. Dr. Ernst Huenges and Dr. David Bruhn, Dr. Albert Genter from GEIE Exploitation Minière de la Chaleur, Prof. Dr. Thomas Kohl from the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology and Dr. Thomas Kölbel from EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg. The German Federal Ministry of Environment supports ICEGS with funds from the 6th Energy Research Programme on Renewable Energies.

ICEGS will be made up of three parts. In the first part focus is on the early experiences from the 1970s with stimulations of geothermal reservoirs. Here Prof. Dr. Jefferson W. Tester will give a key note presentation about the first project in Fenton Hill, New Mexico (USA). Additionally experiences from EGS-projects will be presented, amongst others the projects in Le-Mayet-sur Montagne and Soultz-sous-Forêts in France, Basel in Switzerland and the projects in Landau, Groß-Schönebeck and Insheim in Germany.

The second part shows the state of the art in EGS-projects. The topics herein are the exploration, stimulation and induced seismicity of EGS-projects. Finally, in the last part Dr. Thomas Kölbel from the German Energy Supplier EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg will give a Key Note on the cost drivers of EGS-projects. This is followed by a panel discussion on the economy of EGS projects and the further steps to a breakthrough for the technology. The whole Conference is translated simultaneously from German into English and vice versa.

ICEGS is planned to take place annually in changing locations in Germany. For the first International Conference on Enhanced Geothermal Systems the vicinity to the 8th International Geothermal Conference (IGC), taking place the days before, was chosen, so that the participants could visit this event additionally. For the IGC conference more than 250 participants from over 20 countries are expected.

You will find further information on ICEGS and the possibility to register on the homepage under: www.icegs.eu

The project provides a build-out opportunity to generate further power through the potential application of Wasabi’s proprietary Kalina Cycle technology.

The deal is the latest in a string of commercial agreements Imparator has entered recently with a number of strategic partners including project developers. It is pursuing commercial generation and technology project opportunities in both the waste-heat to power and the renewable energy sectors.

It is currently in talks with several large Turkish companies to co-develop large Kalina Cycle power plants in those sectors.

The option expires on December 31 2013 and costs US$11.75 million, which includes a US$5 million loan note to be issued by Wasabi.

Wasabi believes that sustained growth in Turkey’s economy and the corresponding increase in energy demand provide a unique market opportunity to implement its Kalina Cycle thermodynamic process for converting thermal energy into power.

Imparator and its partners have visited a number of large industrial operations in Turkey including large textile, steel, glass and fibreboard factories, as well as large power generation operations.

Preliminary evaluations have included the development of conceptual Kalina Cycle power plant designs and the exchange of technical information.

Wasabi chairman John Byrne said: “We established Imparator Enerji as a dedicated entity to specifically focus on building an independent power producer (IPP) business in Turkey by leveraging the advantages of our cornerstone technology, the Kalina Cycle. We see enormous opportunities for the Kalina Cycle in Turkey and are impressed with the quality and breadth of project opportunities we have been able to access in a relatively short time.

“Turkey is a large emerging economy in urgent need of sustainable solutions to help address the energy efficiency, energy security, power generation and emissions challenges facing the country.”

Wasabi Energy, so its release considers the market potential for geothermal energy to be around 2,105 MW electric, with new projects and P90 potential projects accounting for about 1,400 MW.

Bahay Ozcakmak, Managing Director and CEO of Imparator Enerji commented on the progress of the company: “In recent months Imparator Enerji has made significant progress in building a scalable business around the Kalina Cycle® technology in Turkey. We have been working diligently to execute our corporate strategic plan. This has involved the formation of strategic partnerships with key market participants and the evaluation of a very large number of significant commercial opportunities in Turkey. Our ability to generate more power from a given thermal resource through our technology is a powerful source of sustained competitive advantage and positions both the generation (IPP) and technology (EPC) divisions of our business very strongly in the marketplace.”

“We have evaluated several high quality projects with aggregate power generation capacity exceeding 150 MWe and are currently in advanced negotiations with several large Turkish companies to co-develop large Kalina Cycle® power plants in both the industrial energy efficiency and the renewable energy sectors. We have recently executed an option to acquire an ownership interest in an advanced geothermal project. A number of other projects we are currently evaluating also provide Imparator Enerji with significant project ownership opportunities.”

Source: Company release (pdf) and ProActive Investors

During this workshop, the main finding was that geothermal energy can and will be a major contributor in the future energy mix of the EU, Iceland and Japan, but also of developing countries.

Policy-makers, local authorities and utilities need to be more aware of the full range of geothermal resources available and of their possible applications.

As one of the sources with very high potential and zero emissions, geothermal energy nevertheless received little support especially for Research and Development (R&D).

“Things must change if Europe is to reach its energy decarbonization objective, and that will not be possible without a substantial contribution from geothermal energy”, said Dr. Burkhard Sanner, President of EGEC.

“Conventional geothermal power is already a most competitive energy source, but only possible in certain regions. EGS, a breakthrough technology successfully demonstrated, will allow a geothermal development anywhere in Europe. EGS (short for “Enhanced Geothermal Systems”) will become competitive within a few more years if substantially R&D resources are allocated to this technology.”

“During the current discussion on Horizon 2020, Geothermal should receive more attention, including through increased R&D cooperation with third countries”, added Sanner.

Substantially higher research, development and demonstration funds are needed in order for Geothermal to become more competitive.

Source: EGEC Press Release

The current phase consists of reconnaissance traverses that will map the clay cap from the central volcanic cone to the lower coastal areas.

This will be followed by second campaign, most likely in May 2012, to infill and expand in the areas which look the most promising for drill testing.

The survey is funded by the previously announced Spanish Federal Government Grant of over A$1 million, to characterise the geothermal resources of the Canary Islands.

This grant was awarded to a consortium including the Institute of Technology & Renewable Energy; University of Barcelona; University of Laguna; and the Institute of Volcanology, Canaries.

Almost all of the work will be conducted on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.”

Source: Proactive Investors

Cui Yu, geothermal projects manager at Beijing’s Geology Minerals Development Bureau, said the government sent her to the volcanic island of Iceland for six months to learn how to develop an industry tapping underground heat. The country in the north Atlantic warms 90 percent of homes from geothermal supply.

China, aiming to get 15 percent of its energy from non- fossil fuels by 2020, is seeking Iceland’s expertise as it pursues a five-year, $10 billion district heating program. China Petrochemical Corp. has pledged to make geothermal one of its main business units over the period, and Xianyang-based Shaanxi Green Energy Geothermal Development Co. plans to become the world’s largest supplier of Earth-generated heat.

“The demand for energy in Beijing and in China is growing fast,” Cui said in an interview. “One of the ways to satisfy the increasing demand is to utilize more geothermal energy, which is both economical and clean.”

Geothermal energy is so plentiful in Iceland that it melts ice on Reykjavik sidewalks in winter, helps grow bananas in greenhouses and warms more swimming pools per capita than in any other country. The United Nations University has run a Geothermal Training Program there for more than 30 years.

“Iceland has a huge advantage due to its experience and knowledge in regard to the utilization of hydropower and geothermal power,” Cui, 34, said by telephone from Reykjavik, the country’s capital. “China can learn from Iceland’s experience and Icelanders can teach us many things.”

The world’s second-biggest economy has 26 megawatts of installed geothermal capacity, compared with 575 megawatts in Iceland, according to Stefan Linder, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. China, which gets 80 percent of its power from coal and is the biggest polluter, has sent the most students to the UN training program, followed by Kenya and the Philippines.”

Source: Bloomberg

The plant – including the innovative turbine -, rated 1000 kWe, have been entirely designed and manufactured by Exergy, and fed on this test bed by a heat source which simulates the conditions of a medium-high temperature heat recovery, typical application of an ORC machine.

This radial outflow turbine has been taken for the first time to compete in the ORC technology with the well-known axial and radial-inflow configurations. The radial outflow turbine has been used since late nineteenth century in traditional steam Rankine cycles, but suffered the competition of axial turbines due to technological issues that have been easily overcome in the ORC application. Exergy radial outflow turbine has a multistage, single-disk configuration and its characteristics lead to very high conversion efficiency.

The ambitious theoretical results has been confirmed by the field measures, in terms of excellent performance, low vibration and noise levels.

Moreover, thanks to its simple construction and easy operation and maintenance, this innovative turbine is competitive with the existing technologies on capital expenditure as well as on operating costs.

“The operating results confirm that our industrial development programs are based on an extremely innovative technology”, says Claudio Spadacini, CEO of Exergy ORC. “Furthermore our technology has an excellent potential to compete in the ORC market, in waste heat recovery applications and renewable resources exploitation”.

The machines that are based on the organic Rankine cycle are applied where the heat source is usually available at medium-high temperature in a gaseous or liquid flow (e.g. cooling of combustion flue gas, geothermal brine). The working cycle is a close loop, in which the organic fluid contained in the system, receives high-temperature heat from the source and discharges low-temperature heat to the sink via some heat exchangers, without any direct contact. Thanks to this features, the ORC systems can be applied both in dedicated applications like combustion (e.g. biomass plants), concentrated solar power (CSP), geothermics and downstream various industrial processes recovering waste heat at high temperature (e.g. glass or steel mills, cement factories).

Exergy, part of SECI Energia – Gruppo Industriale Maccaferri, designs and manufactures ORC modules based on its radial outflow turbines, rated from 600 kWe to 4 MWe, for full electric or cogenerative applications, together with complete tailor-made solutions for big plants.

“Our industrial history, having its roots in the late nineteenth century, is now enriched with a new family of products that will give to Exergy the chance to play a primary role in the heat recovery sector”, underlines Gaetano Maccaferri, chairman of Seci Energia and of the Maccaferri Industrial Group, “producing electric power without using fuel but exploiting waste heat that otherwise would be discharged, with a positive environmental impact and no costs.”

Source: Exergy news announcement

The government is now required to provide a proposal to the parliament on how it expects to support better investment conditions for geothermal power projects in the country. The government will do so unwillingly as it would have preferred to work on the topic as part of its energy strategy 2050. The strategy is to draw up the future for Switzerland after the country decided to abolish nuclear power production.

The Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications in Switzerland Doris Leuthard was warning the parliament on the expected costs of a motion of this kind, but did so unsuccessfully.

The motions put forward in parliament ask for a geothermal task force and a public acceptance campaign.

Furthermore pilot projects should be able to receive start-up financing that is to be paid back, while all permitting procedures should be aligned and be made quicker. The federal state is also asked to participate in R&D and pilot projects.

Financially the second motion put forward in parliament will have a larger impact, as it asks for a country-wide exploration program to be organized and financed. The motions are seen as supporting an energy form with great potential for power generation, providing cost-competitive and base-load power all year round.

The government sees the request for drilling financing as challenging, as no-one knows how this can be covered from the federal budget.

Based on the experiences of projects in the cities of St. Gallen and  Zürich, the minister expects costs of up to CHF 1 billion (~$1 billion)

The decision by the Swiss parliament was quite clear, as it voted with a majority of about 75% for the motion to support the geothermal ambitions of the country.

Source: Swiss news (translated and adapted)

The agreement includes partners GMV Energy and EU-Fire Kft. from Hungary. The plan is to tap the mostly un-utilized geothermal resources in the north of Serbia.

Gazprom Neft owns a majority stake in NIS, which signed the contract with the province of Vojvodina for the development of a combined heat and power plant .

NIS wants to add power generation to its core business in oil and gas, with the help of Hungarian GMV Energy and EU-Fire. The plan is to switch local heating plants from gas and heavy oil based heating to geothermal heating.

When Gazprom Neft acquired the majority stake in NIS from the Serbian government in 2009, the sale included rights to about 78 geothermal wells in Vojvodina.

Source: Bloomberg

Key themes of the conference include financing, operating safety, local use of geothermal energy, public relations and international projects.

This well-established get-together for the international geothermal branch takes place from May 22nd to 25th 2012 in Freiburg/Germany. By now on four days it provides a wide insight into several aspects of deep geothermal energy supply. An early bird special discount is available until March, 31st.

On the first conference day the trinational „Forum on geothermal energy in the Upper Rhine Valley“ provides an outstanding possibility to receive an overview of current use of geothermal energy in one of Middle Europe’s regions with highest potential. Along with legal parameters and geological characteristics in Germany, Switzerland and France diverse projects are introduced.

The Forum is realized by TRION Energy network in co-operation with Enerchange. Simultaneous translation German-French is available. The following speakers have already confirmed: Lena Eggeling (EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg), Karl-Heinz Schaedle (Gruneko) and Dr. Albert Genter (GEIE Exploitation Minière de la Chaleur).

The second conference day contains a short course with focus on different aspects that influence the operating of geothermal plants. Furthermore, an all-day Kommunalforum in co-operation with VKU and Städtetag Baden-Württemberg takes place. In the afternoon workshops in the fields of public relations, developments in pump-technology and on international projects are on the agenda.

For municipal authorities the Kommunalforum offers an interesting view into experiences, that communities have made with deep geothermal energy Germany-wide. Amongst others the projects in Ried am Innkreis and Bad Buchau will be presented. The Forum closes with a panel discussion, with the participants Dr. Jochen Bauer (City of Weinheim), Johann-Martin Rogg (Badenova, regional energy supplier), Mayor Dr. Ralf Göck (City of Bruehl) and Hans-Detlev Hoehne (CEO Ueberlandwerke Groß-Gerau).

The peak of the IGC 2012 is the congress day on May, 24th. It starts with keynotes by Prof. Jeff Tester from Cornell Energy Institute and Dr. Peter Meier from Geoenergy Suisse. The following four discussion forums focus on exchange and cover the subjects financing, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, risk minimisation through investigation and operating experience with geothermal power plants.

Forum speakers are Prof. Dr. Eva Schill (Université de Neuchâtel), Prof. Dr. Hartmut Spliethoff (Technical University of Munich), Alexander von Dobschuetz (Bayern LB), Thomas Kölbel (EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg) and Wolfgang Geisinger (Geothermie Unterhaching).

Field trips to project locations in the Upper Rhine Valley plus an appealing social program complete the event. Along the Opening Lounge on the eve of May, 23rd the Business Dinner after the congress day on May, 24th is an inherent part of the conference. Both events offer excellent opportunities for networking and amend the professional exchange while the conference days. Robert Blood (Sigwatch) will see to it that there are lively discussions during the Business Dinner. He reports about motives and dynamics of interest groups as well as their conflicting position regarding renewable energy projects.

The IGC is organized by the agency Enerchange. The economic development and marketing company of Freiburg, the Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG (FWTM) is co-organiser. Patron of the conference is the Federal Environmental Ministry; the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers (EAGA) is the supporting organisation. Among others the International Geothermal Association (IGA), the Wirtschaftsforum Geothermie, the Swiss Geothermal Association and the GtV-Bundesverband Geothermie are co-operation partners of the IGC 2012.

Registration fees: Benefit from our early bird special (10% reduction) by registering before March 31th, 2012! For further information on registration, fees, conference program and the target audience, please visit http://www.geothermiekonferenz.de/en

Enerchange is a specialised agency on research and consulting services in renewable energy. The business activities of the agency are researching and analysing of sector trends and information, organising of industry events, and support of companies seeking and evaluating renewable energy projects.

The International Geothermal Conference 2012 (IGC) is taking place for the 8th time in Freiburg and is a well-established stage for the international geothermal branch. Every year more than 200 international specialists discuss about the latest developments in this sector of renewable energy technologies.

The event has taken place for the 6th time and also provided a conference element that saw a great interest. There was also a great gala dinner event attached to the show.

At the day in front of GeoTHERM several cooperation partners used the congress center on the fair ground for their workshops, courses and general meetings.

“Geothermal energy is part of the future”, declared Prof. Dr. Roland Horne, President of the International Geothermal Association, at his opening speech. During the opening session the congress hall has been over-crowded caused by a high interest of participants in the speeches of the leading geothermal associations, such as the President of the German Geothermal Association Waldemar Müller-Ruhe, the Chairman of the Economic Geothermal Association Dr. Erwin Knapek, the Managing Director of the German Heat Pump Association Karl-Heinz Stawiarski, the President of the European Federation of Geologists Dr. Ruth Allington, the President of the European Geothermal Energy Council Dr. Burkhard Sanner.

“At the entire area of the Exhibition Center Offenburg representatives of the whole geothermal branch have been present, explained Werner Bock, Managing Director of the Exhibition Center Offenburg. With 20 percent more visitors 3477 participants from 32 nations (coming from the US, Australia, Africa and Europe, compared to 2898 visitors in the previous year) benefited from the opportunity to make valuable contacts at Europe’s largest trade fair. 174 exhibitors from twelve countries (An increase of more than 30 percent compared to the previous year with 133 exhibitors from 9 countries) have presented their products and services. The exhibitor satisfaction is confirmed by the high rebooking rate for GeoTHERM 2013 with more than 40 percent.

“We had two successful days at GeoTHERM. The amount and quality of exhibitors as well as the high number of visitors has convinced myself”, summarized Dr. Susanne Schmitt, Chairman of the GeoEnergy Celle Association. “Even the combination of congress and trade fair with high-quality congress speeches reflects perfectly the demands of the geothermal industry, so that I would appreciate our participation at next GeoTHERM in 2013.”

Just as Dr. Horst Kreuter, Managing Director of GeoThermal Engineering GmbH, underlines the successful internationalization of the trade fair. „As enterprise, which is working at international level, we meet the right international decision makers in Offenburg.”

“We are pleased about the terrific support of our cooperation partners and the high commitment of exhibitors and visitors”, pointed out Sandra Kircher, Project Director. At this year’s GeoTHERM new cooperations for the future of GeoTHERM have been built. For example the Exhibition Center Offenburg is proud of welcoming the European Federation of Geologists as new partner of GeoTHERM.

The next GeoTHERM will be taking place February 28-March 1, 2013 at the Exhibition Center Offenburg (Germany).

Further information is available online in English, French and German www.geotherm-offenburg.de.

Today I am asking you for your help in a short Reader Survey. It would be great if you could assist in filling out the survey.  Click here to take survey

I sincerely hope that you find the site and its features useful. From the beginning I have been using a variety of social media tools to help promote geothermal energy. Twitter has become an increasingly important tool. Facebook is something a bit underutilized. Google+ is coming. The ThinkGeoEnergy LinkedIn group with now also around 600 members is providing a great platform for discussions. The Ning community has not been that overly successful, but is still being used.

The free-to-use pictures I share via ThinkGeoEnergy’s Flickr account are also popular. If you want to share good geothermal pictures you can do this via the Flickr Group of ThinkGeoEnergy.

Then there are the other elements. In 2010, a weekly newsletter was added that today has over 600 subscribers and now even has a fine co-sponsor in Scientific Drilling. The Geothermal Job Portal was added last year and slowly gains some traction.

Also at the end of 2011, ThinkGeoEnergy was able to offer one of the first Geothermal apps for the iPhone – the GeoEnergy app, available in the App Store.

I am also very excited about the ThinkGeoEnergy Geothermal Power Plant Map, which is in full work. It is under development, so don´t expect it to be anywhere close to ready and correct, but for a preview see here: http://map.thinkgeoenergy.com/map.php, for the old map (on Google Maps) you can use this link.

I am now going through a bit of a strategic review of the site, for which the survey is supposed to be a little guidance of what you want to see for ThinkGeoEnergy going forward, so your help is appreciated.

There are some exciting news coming along for the industry, so the start into this year looks a lot better than indications of the end of last year. So lets hope we will see an exciting year.

I am also exploring the idea of a Marketing Workshop/ event in connection with the GRC Annual Meeting and the GEA Trade Show in Reno this fall, so stay tuned.

In this context I also would very much like to thank all the companies that have supported me through the years with advertisements and other contributions. Namely this is Islandsbanki, ISOR, GeothermEx, Hannon Armstrong, Verkís, Mannvit, Technip, Scientific Drilling, Iceland Drilling, Enerchange and Activated Logic.

There are a large number of other individuals and companies that have helped tremendously through advise, thoughts, critical remarks and comments and general support.

Bent has been CEO since the year 1989, but before that time he had served as the financial manager. The company has over the years established itself as one of the global leaders when it comes to geothermal drilling, based on its extensive drilling experience in Iceland. The company is operating internationally with drilling underway in New Zealand, Iceland, Dominica, Germany, Denmark and other countries.

Given the indecisive situation on the Icelandic energy market, the company has been forced to increasingly looking outside of Iceland for getting its drilling rig to work. Today, the company is likely to focus completely on international markets as it was forced to do so given the lack of political decisions in further energy development in Iceland.

In a statement, the former CEO, Bent S. Einarsson said: “I leave Iceland Drilling Company at peace after a quarter of a decade. I am particular pleased with the success we have achieved in the international markets. We have managed this through the dedication and efficiency of our employees. IDC is a unique company which possesses the knowledge and the state of the art drilling technology that is sought after by the geothermal sector worldwide. The company is strong and the prospects are good. Now it is turning point for IDC and new owners take over the company. I consider it appropriate to step aside on this occasion and let the new owners develop it further. I want to thank my colleagues for good cooperation and excellent work over the years and wish the company every success in the future.

“IDC now stand at a crossroads as its sales-process has been finished. The main task of the last three years has been to secure continued operation of the company on foreign markets, and it has been well led by Bent S. Einarsson. On behalf of the board and the employees I want to thank Mr. Einarsson for a long and successful work for the company.”, said Kirstín Flygenring, Chairman of the Board of Iceland Drilling.”

There is no word on who is likely to take over the CEO role at Iceland Drilling.

Source: Iceland Drilling release

The project, with a 32 MW thermal plant at Kvols, close to Viborg,  is expected to provide heating to 16,600 households in the area, with a total of about 32 km of supply pipes to neighboring communities. Closer communities will be able to cover about 90% of their heating consumption, while customers in communities a bit further will only be able to cover 50-60%.

The project was initially put together in 2010, with planning done in 2011. Now in January 2012, an open house was organized to show potential customers what is planned. The same month, German geothermal drilling company Hekla Energy was contracted to conduct the drilling. The company is a daughter company fo Icelandic geothermal drilling company Iceland Drilling. Drilling started in January and is expected to reach a depth of about 3,000 meters.

“The maximum production of the geothermal plant is 32 MW of geothermal heat. The water temperature in the reservoir is expected to be 75°C and therefore the geothermal water will be exchanged to district heating water with a temperature of app. 73°C in the surface plant, located in the city of Kvols. This water can be used directly in the connection points, without use of heat pumps.”

Denmark has today two geothermal heating plants in operation, in Thisted and in the nation’s capital Copenhagen. A third plant in Sonderberg is expected to come into operation in 2012.

More details about Denmark’s geothermal activities via: www.geotermi.dk (in Danish)

Source: Viborg Geotermi (in Danish), Iceland Drilling

“Geothermal power plants represent a new product on the market for innovative plants generating clean energy. With this project, Linde is opening up a new and forward-looking business field,” says Jörg Linsenmaier, Managing Director of Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH. “The market volume for geothermal plants is estimated at several hundred million euros in Germany alone.”

The plant uses the ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) process to generate approximately 38,640 MWh of electrical energy from hot geothermal water, which is brought from a depth of about 4000 m. The geothermal power plant is capable of supplying power to 12,880 homes. In the vast field of regenerative energy production, geothermal energy stands out because of its base load capacity. It is unaffected by the weather and day-night cycle and is therefore available around the clock.

Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, civil and installation works and commissioning carried out in relation to the plant.

Cryostar SAS, a further subsidiary of the Linde Group, will supply the ORC technology and the key component – the expansion turbine. It is envisaged that the Gases Division of the Linde Group will manage the geothermal plant. With this combination of equipment manufacturing, engineering, purchasing & construction and plant management, the Linde Group is supplying a portfolio of services from a single source – something which their competition simply cannot match on the same terms. The civil works are set to start in summer 2012, with commissioning of the plant scheduled to take place in 2013.”

Source: Company release via Esprit Associates

This Workshop will look at how to exploit the huge global potential of geothermal through increased cooperation in R&D, technology and knowledge transfers between the EU, Iceland and Japan.

With over a century’s worth of experience with geothermal electricity, it is difficult to understand why geothermal is not recognised as being an important factor in the Energy mix. Policy-makers, local authorities and utilities need to be more aware of the full range of geothermal resources available and of their possible applications.

During this workshop European, Icelandic and Japanese representatives will discuss key actions and the cooperation they could envisage to embrace the geothermal potential.

These three locations are of vital interest for such a development, given that:

• The first geothermal power plants were inaugurated in 1904 in Europe, which is now leading in deployment of EGS technologies
• Due to its location, Iceland has very favourable conditions for geothermal development. The geothermal resources are utilized both for electricity generation and direct heat application. 62% of the nations’ primary energy supply comes from geothermal energy
• Japan also has geothermal plants in operation. It is important to note, that in the area affected by the earthquake in March 2011, all geothermal power plants are in functioning normally, generating the same levels of power as before the earthquake.

Experts, researchers and public leaders from these areas can share valuable experiences, best practices and technology in order to deploy geothermal heat and power all over the world.

The Workshop will bring together policy-makers, representatives of research organisations, clusters and industry to discuss how Europe, Iceland and Japan can cooperate on developing geothermal.

Source: EU-Japan.EU

To effect the change in ownership, Jarðvarmi will invest ISK 4.7B (USD 38.5 million) in HS Orka through the purchase of 878,205,943 treasury shares at a price of ISK 5.35 per share. This price represents a 15.6% increase over the original price paid by Jarðvarmi of ISK 4.63 per share for their initial 25% stake. These funds are expected to be used by HS Orka for the equity requirements for 80 MW of expansions which will increase the Reykjanes plant capacity from 100 MW to 180 MW. Closing is expected to occur before the end of February. Alterra Power was advised on the transaction by (Icelandic) MP Bank.”

Source: Company release

More than 1200 professionals, met and networked on the trade show gathering 65 companies and nearly 300 delegates took part in the conferences over the 2-day event.

The 2012 JOURNEES DE LA GEOTHERMIE will take place on NOVEMBER 14-15 at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in PARIS.

The organizers now report that a record number of exhibitors have registered, with 160 companies presenting their companies, services and activities.

GeoTHERM is Europe’s leading trade fair accompanied by two congresses highlighting shallow and deep geothermal energy. At both days 44 experts inform about experiences as well as new developments of the geothermal sector.

On March 1st, the President of the International Geothermal Association (IGA), Prof. Dr. Roland Horne, will be the key speaker of GeoTHERM 2012.

Switzerland is this year’s guest of honour, and following the opening ceremony, Swiss specialists will be giving  an overview on the country’s activities.

The whole program is available online at: http://www.geotherm-offenburg.de/en/geothermal_congress

Given the international nature of the event, all congress presentations and speeches will be simultaneously translated into English, French and German. The translation is free of charge.

In combination with GeoTHERM, the 6th Meeting of the Geothermal Technology Panel of the RHC-Platform will take place on 1st of March 2012 in Offenburg as well.

Visitors of GeoTHERM benefit of the combination of trade fair and congress. The ticket is available for 38 EUR (ticket for one day) or 58 EUR (ticket for two days). Register online https://www.messe-offenburg.de/en/geotherm_registration/66 .

Location and address of GeoTHERM: Exhibition Center Offenburg (Messe Offenburg), Schutterwaelder Str. 3, 77656 Offenburg, Germany.

The organizer of GeoTHERM is the Exhibition Center Offenburg in Germany (Messe Offenburg).

Further information is available online in English, French and German www.geotherm-offenburg.de. For detailed questions please do not hesitate to contact the project team by
phone +49 (0)781 – 9226 – 32 or E-Mail geotherm@messeoffenburg.de.

Source: Press release by email

The event will take place in Pisa on the 29th of March 2012. PhD students working in the field of geothermal research are all invited to take part, not only in geosciences , but also including engineering, chemistry, business, law, etc.

Details and registration via: http://3rdgeothermalphdday.oneminutesite.it/

The plan is to have a conference with a short presentation from each participant as well as a poster session.There will be also a visit to Larderello geothermal site, more information will be given as soon as possible,

It’s our hope that this event will be as successful as the last ones.

Participation in the 1 day program will be free of charge.  The charge of the trip will depend on funding and group size.

Deadline for application is the 1st of february for the field trip and for the request of funding.

Deadline for application to the PhD day is the 15th of february.

If you have any questions or ideas on this event do not hesitate to contact me (sara.focaccia2@unibo.it)

The draft Ministerial decree, implementing the Legislative Decree 28/2011, would set insufficient support for geothermal electricity. According to UGI, the national geothermal association of Italy, such a very low support would undermine the development of the sector after that the liberalisation of the geothermal resources in 2010 has triggered a boom of 110 permission requests for exploration over the last two years.

In this regard, a meeting is convened in order to gather all stakeholders and professionals involved in the sector and to take further steps towards policy-makers and national authorities. The meeting will be held in Rome on the 31^st of January 2012. For further information contact: info@unionegeotermica.it”

Source: EGEC

In the court’s decision following the claim of two drilling companies, the court confirms that certain criteria had not been made public as part of the tender documentation. The claimants correctly claimed that there was not sufficient transparency and the court decided that either the whole tender phase or the whole process for the call of tenders will have to be repeated.

In the tender phase only the successful company and the claimants would have to provide their tenders. The now planned open process requires that all companies will be able to bid again, which will lead to a better competitive situation. This way the city council hopes that there will be more competitive offers. For this process to start, the courts decision will have to be legally confirmed.

If the call for tender processes after plan and there will be no further claims filed, drilling is expected to start after the summer break. The drill pad is then expected to be set up in early summer 2012.

Source: City of St. Gallen via Tiefe Geothermie , more details on the actual court case via Tiefe Geothermie (all in German)

The findings are interesting not only for the geothermal industry that sees its high capacity factors as one of the key selling arguments. While the research shows that geothermal energy is still a very favorable base-load capacity energy source for utilities world-wide, capacity factors are often not as high as they theoretically could be.

Building on the vast resources collected over the year, the research done by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for this study is quite thorough and looked at 71 geothermal fields globally.

For a global average, BNEF quotes a capacity factor of 73% and correctly notes that developers use much higher capacity factors for their project finance models. Higher resource temperatures statistically increase capacity factors at a rate of around 1% per 10 degrees Celsius. The performance of the different fields varies widely, with Iceland, Mexico and Indonesia representing the highest capacity factors. The age of the plants in Japan and the Philippines is mentioned as a reason for the lower capacity factors in both countries, through decreasing productivity of geothermal fields over time.

In detail the report goes into general trends of plant performance, performance by technology, country and developers.

In an interview with Mark Taylor the Head of Geothermal at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, he said, that “the findings might not be ideal for the industry, but geothermal energy is still base-load given its 90% availability. Also utilities in the U.S. still favor Geothermal and consider it a viable base-load option. This means that developers can still secure healthy power purchase agreements (PPA) and capital should be available for good projects.”

For financial institutions, capacity factors are important and information like that provided by Bloomberg New Energy Finance is crucial for the questions investors need to ask and developers need to be prepared to answer. “Lower than expected capacity factors could though mean difficulties with regards to not meeting PPA contract requirements, as well as meeting debt and interest payments through a decrease in revenues,” Mark Taylor added.

Geothermal development always has a risk element when it comes to resource assessment, drilling and planning, but the report by Bloomberg shows that it is crucial to be conservative in estimates as they determine the underlying contractual terms of the PPA, but also the availability of financing.

Again – and I mentioned this in various presentations these past 12 months – it is the question about the necessity about being conservative and successful, rather than overpromise and not live up to estimates given. The geothermal reporting codes by Australia and Canada are providing a codified approach to reporting of resource assessments that could help create investor confidence in projects, but also be one helpful element in securing PPAs that live up to expectations on both sides.

Vranjska Banja is the hottest geothermal spring in Serbia, with discharge temperatures of 96°C (boiling at discharge elevation). Exploration drilling of two intermediate depth wells (VG-2 and VG-3) in the early 1990′s reportedly encountered temperatures of up to 137°C at less than one kilometre depth. Both wells were cased to 800-900 metres depth (high temperature intervals were not isolated), and have relatively high artesian flows together averaging approximately 60 litres per second.

GeothermEx reviewed the available information on the geothermal resource at Vranjska Banja (including the existing VG-2 and VG-3 geothermal wells), and concluded that a resource temperature of approximately 150°C is possible at depths of about 2,000m. Wellbore modelling calculated that a full-diameter well encountering reservoir conditions similar to those intercepted in VG-2 and VG-3 would have a net production capacity of approximately 3 MW.

GeothermEx estimated that the heat resource within the 300-400 hectare area immediately around Vranjska Banja spa is equivalent to at least 10 MW and possibly up to 20 MW. The Company plans additional geophysical surveys and shallow temperature gradient drilling within the license area as the first steps to upgrade this resource into a known reserve and to determine the resource potential of the rest of the license area.

Miljana Vidovic, President and CEO of Reservoir commented: “We are very pleased with these results and GeothermEx’s validation of our work to date at Vranjska Banja. The existing geothermal wells make this a relatively low-risk play technically and the high capacity factors typical of geothermal plants could make this a very material addition to our hydro portfolio.”

The 1,750 hectare exploration permit for Vranjska Banja surrounds the 2 hectare exploitation permit encompassing the two existing geothermal wells: VG-2 and VG-3. The Company has an agreement under which it has completed well testing and resource studies on these wells, in addition to mapping, sampling and geophysical surveys on its own exploration license.”

Source: Company release via Marketwire

Particularly the western region of Romania has several areas with geothermal potential, namely Arad, Timisoara, and Oradea. But Romania would first needed to develop a detailed map of its geothermal resource potential.

On financing these kind of projects, he mentioned that there are non-refundable funds earmarked for Romania by the countries of the European Economic Area, here Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein that could be used for this purpose.

A project serving 80,000-100,000 people, would have a large impact reducing CO2 emissions in a region that currently depends heavily on Russian gas imports that have risen dramatically in price over the last decade.

Source: ActMedia

The buyer is an Icelandic investment fund called SF III. This closes a chapter of many years of the company having been held by financial institutions throughout the turbulent times of boom and bust of the Icelandic financial markets.

SF III slhf., an investment fund operated by Stefnir hf., has signed an agreement to acquire an 82% stake in Jarðboranir hf. (Iceland Drilling) from Miðengi ehf., a subsidiary of Íslandsbanki hf. The company was previously owned by Geysir Green Energy and in the process of the dissolving of the company, Íslandsbanki took over the ownership and started the sales process.

The owners of SF III are three pension funds, Festa, Gildi and LSR as well Samherji hf., and SÍA I, private equity fund operated by Stefnir hf. Miðengi ehf. will continue as a shareholder in the company and own an 18% stake. The share purchase agreement is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to the approval of the Icelandic Competition Authorities.

Miðengi ehf. commenced an open sales process of Icelandic Drilling in August 2011 with Íslandsbanki Corporate Finance as the advisor. The sales process was publically announced and a large number of offers were submitted from both domestic as well as international investors. The owner subsequently initiated discussions with the highest bidder which were successfully concluded with the sale to SF III. No price was mentioned in this context.

In a first statement by Bent Einarsson, CEO of Iceland Drilling, he said: “We are very pleased to welcome a new major shareholder to the company. Their mission and values are a perfect match with the company‘s current strategy and the headquarters will stay in Iceland. Active ownership is an important prerequisite for Iceland Drilling’s further success. In this perspective we continue to explore projects in foreign markets and the opportunities that arise with increased focus on sustainable energy sources globally”.

Given the company’s activities in mostly international markets, the company was an popular acquisition target for various Icelandic investment groups that are looking for opportunities despite the underlying foreign currency restrictions in Iceland.

It will be interesting how this will affect the company’s strategy going forward, but with its experience and pipeline of contracts, it should be well positioned and having finally a clear ownership position should also be helpful going forward.

Currently the company owns subsidiary Hekla Energy, a drilling firm in Germany and runs projects in New Zealand, Dominica and Iceland, with its eyes on various other markets going forward.

Source: Iceland Drilling

Geothermal heat is available all over the world, and is a clean, stable, inexhaustible, and “weather-proof” source of energy. At Noway’s latitudes, the ground temperature rises by about 20°C per kilometre into the crust.

Power from this source of energy could play a significant role in the global green energy mix.

With its strong and innovative oil industry, Norway is in a unique position to capture geothermal heat, and drilling technology has evolved significantly in the course of the past ten years, as oil and gas deposits become more and more difficult to access.

NEXT-Drill does not primarily concern deep drilling, but will form the basis for it in the future. The focus is rather on more efficient drilling and new methods of drilling in hard rock.

The expert group that is going to develop and experimentally test wells and drilling technology includes scientists from SINTEF, NTNU, IRIS and the University of Stavanger.

A number of Norwegian groups are already focusing on deep geological energy, and several of them are collaborating with the new project.

tence project and it will offer a basis for close cooperation between the participating research institutes and universities. The industrial consortium includes energy companies Statoil and Statnett, Atlas Copco Scoroc, the leading Swedish manufacturer of equipment for drilling in hard rock, and a number of Norwegian entrepreneur and technology companies such as Resonator, Norhard, Pen-Rock and Rock Energy. SINTEF is coordinating the project.”

Source: Sintef

ThinkGeoEnergy would like to thank its advertisement partners that have helped to keep the site running. So my sincere thanks to Íslandsbanki, Iceland GeoSurvey (ISOR), GeothermEx, Hannon Armstrong, Verkís, Mannvit, Technip, Iceland Drilling and the many other firms who have helped in one or another way.

This year was quite an active one for ThinkGeoEnergy. Finally late this summer, the Geothermal Job Portal was launched with now several jobs posted. Clearly it will need to grow and it will.

Earlier this month GeoEnergy, the iPhone news app for ThinkGeoEnergy was published on the App Store and allows a condense news overview for those of you using an iPhone. It will be tried to offer an Android app as well, but this might take a while.

In October, ThinkGeoEnergy – together with ISOR – published the Geothermal Power Map, a printed world map with the locations of the geothermal fields of this world. The online version is still a work-in-progress, but will be worked to a useable format in 2012.

To many of you, I would like to extend my gratitude for your ongoing dedication to geothermal energy and development in general. Many of you became good friends and I cherish our friendship and ongoing cooperation. Keep up the fight for development in Asia, the Pacific region, Australia, U.S., Canada, Chile, Argentina, Turkey and so on.

I wish you all a peaceful and regenerating holiday season. I am looking forward seeing many of you at the several geothermal events in 2012.

With all the best wishes for 2012,

Alex(ander) Richter

The results of the arbitration were mixed, with each party succeeding on certain aspects of their claims. While the award confirmed a contingent obligation for HS Orka to deliver a portion of the power for the new smelter, this requirement remains subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions that the tribunal ruled have not yet been fulfilled. The tribunal dismissed Norðurál’s claim for damages.

HS Orka will work with Norðurál to seek a satisfactory resolution to all issues arising out of the award.”

Source: Company release by email

This was announced by Robert Straubinger, Managing Director of the project company Enex Power Germany (formerly an Icelandic owned company). The investment firm was founded this year to invest in sustainable energy projects with a focus on geothermal and hydropower and now already is a majority stakeholder in Enex Power Germany.

One of the key people in the investment firm is Daniel Hopp, the son of one of the founders of German IT/ Software giant SAP.

It is expected that the drilling pad will be built in March 2012 and actual drilling to be conducated from May 2012 to fall 2013. It is planned to drill wells up to 4,700 and 5,200 meters. The temperature expected  is about 145 centigrades with flowrates of about 100 litres per second.

The project plans to build a plant with a capacity of 40 MW thermal energy supply and 5.3 MW electric power generation capacity.

Source: German Geothermal Association

The event is supported by geothermal companies and institutions, the President of the International Geothermal Association and the European Geothermal Energy Council. The Early bird booking for visitors is available until the end of January 2012.

Within the last six years the number of exhibitors has consequently risen up. At this upcoming GeoTHERM event more than 140 exhibitors of shallow and deep geothermal energy will be present “and the commitment of the geothermal companies and institutions is stronger than ever before”, declares Werner Bock, Managing Director of Exhibition Center Offenburg.

Europe’s leading trade fair is accompanied by two congresses of shallow and deep geothermal energy. Prof. Dr. Roland N. Horne, President of the International Geothermal Energy (IGA), as well as Dr. Burkhard Sanner, President of the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC), are two of 40 congress speakers who will inform about practical experiences and theoretical studies. Caused by the high international level of the event all congress speeches will be simultaneously translated into English, French and German.

Visitors of GeoTHERM benefit of the early bird ticket. Until the end of January the combined ticket including congress and trade fair participation is available for 28 EUR (ticket for one day) or 48 EUR (ticket for two days). Register online www.geotherm-offenburg.de

The organizer of GeoTHERM is the Exhibition Center Offenburg (Messe Offenburg).

Further information is available online in English, French and German, at www.geotherm-offenburg.de. For detailed questions please do not hesitate to contact the project team by phone +49 (0)781 – 9226 – 32 or E-Mail geotherm@messeoffenburg.de.

In the now published Sheet 1 is to provide guidance for operators to set up a monitoring scheme for geothermal project that allow a controlled operation of any facilities.

The Directive GTV 1101 (Sheet 1) “Seismic monitoring” does not specify when the monitoring of a project is useful or necessary, but only describes what needs to be done to implement it. The technical requirements for instruments to be used are described, as well as the required equipment of the monitoring networks. The Directive distinguishes between two monitoring networks. While the immission network will serve to assess the possible adverse effects of shocks, the emission network informs of the existing natural and induced seismicity in one location.

The triggering of seismic events of human intervention in the subsurface is understood under “induced seismicity”. This can be caused not only by deep geothermal projects, but are reported as well from they the construction of dams, mining operations or the construction of tunnels. Nevertheless, events of this kind in the past, particularly in the cases of geothermal projects initiated discussions. Prof. Dr. Horst Rueter, president of the section “Geothermal Association” of the German Geothermal Association (GtV geothermal), said: “Worldwide, induced seismicity through geothermal projects have so far not triggered any structural damages on buildings, infrastructure or even put human lives at risk. Furthermore, induced seismicity is in principal predictable and controllable.” But therefore the planning and implementation of a geothermal project needs to occur under the method of “controlled operation”. ” This approach, as developed by the German Geothermal Association, includes a monitoring concept for natural and induced seismicity, and a reaction scheme. It is part of the Association’s position paper on the topic of “induced seismicity” of July 2010.

The Directive GTV 1101 (sheet 1) “Seismic Monitoring” thus forms a cornerstone for ensuring the controlled operation of geothermal plants. So that they can simultaneously be the basis for agreements between authorities and operators, on how to deal with the possibility of induced seismicity. To accompany the issue of seismicity in geothermal projects comprehensively, the Association is planning drafts of subsequent sheets of the Directive.

The Directive GTV 1101 (sheet 1) “Seismic Monitoring is available via the Association’s website, www.geothermie.de (in German only) under “Publikationen”, as well as under this >link (pdf, in German only)<.

Source: Release of the German Geothermal Association by email

Water has been found at a depth of 4,200 meters with a temperature of 134 centigrades.

The project was started one year ago and intends to provide sufficient water for heating of up to 4,000 households and power for 10,000 households in Taufkirchen, a small city just outside of Munich in Bavaria, Germany.

It is expected that the plant will tart operating in 2013. Then about 100 liters of water per second, at a temperature of 134 centigrades will supply the power plant. Until then a second well will be drilled and the construction of the power plant will have been finished.

The project is realized by Exorka, which belongs to the Daldrup-group (a geothermal drilling company listed on the German Stock Exchange). Swiss power company Axpo AG holds a 35 percent stake.

The Swiss player is seeing the German project as a learning experience for the planned geothermal development of the company in Switzerland.

Source: German news article

The findings of the report demonstrate that the market is growing, but expert analyses of geothermal electricity production and District Heating underline that there are a number of drivers to this growth, which need continued attention to keep the positive momentum.

Delegates gathering at the third edition of the official conference of the European Geothermal Energy Council, GeoPower Europe, have been informed of the strong growth in the deep geothermal market in Europe. Over 250 high-level experts from industry, research and the public sector have heard how the geothermal market is witnessing a strong growth, but to maintain and build upon this strong foundation, more support and investment is needed to make geothermal an even bigger part of Europe’s renewable energy mix.

The report is available via the EGEC website for members, but a preview of the findings can be found in posted presentations by EGEC via the link provided below.

Source EGEC

GeoEnergy – the ThinkGeoEnergy Geothermal News App

Long time in the making it now available on the App Store. “GeoEnergy” is a news application of ThinkGeoEnergy.com. It provides the complete news overview, access to the Twitter feed of ThinkGeoEnergy, the latest contributions posted on Flickr and YouTube, as well as regional feeds of geothermal news around the global.

As far as I am aware it is the first real Geothermal Energy focused App for the iPhone.

The app is available for free on the App Store. It has cost me though considerable nerves, effort and time to put it up, so if you feel rather generous any donations are welcome. To donate Click here

I might also spend some time creating an app for Android, but this might take a while.