The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a new report focusing on an area of interest to the geothermal industry located in southern California’s Imperial Valley. “The Potential for Renewable Energy Development to Benefit
Restoration of the Salton Sea: Analysis of Technical and Market
Potential” estimates the geothermal potential at the Salton Sea to be up
to 1,800 MW, the report states.
NREL stated, “Funded through a grant from the State of California
Natural Resources Agency, under Agreement No. 0540-SSA 1, the Salton Sea
Authority (SSA) is preparing the Salton Sea Funding and Feasibility
Action Plan to address this need. . . Of the commercially available
renewable energy technologies, geothermal, solar photovoltaics (PV) and
concentrating solar power (CSP) have the greatest technical potential
for development.”
Geothermal development by 2030 is estimated at 1.05 GW to 1.81 GW of
generation capacity, according to the report. Potential mineral recovery
of lithium from Salton Sea geothermal brines is also considered in the
report and is estimated at “54,000 to 122,000 metric tons annually by
2030, with significant uncertainty due to limited well data.”
Prior revenue potential estimates, technical reviews of renewable
energy technologies, and estimates for developable production potential
through 2030 are all within the scope of the 173-page report. NREL included data from GEA in its report. “Based on data from the
GEA, the current nameplate geothermal capacity in Imperial County is
715.2 MW,” according to the report. “The Salton Sea area has the
majority of the nameplate (installed) capacity, with 402.2 MW in
Imperial County.”
On October 9, Gov. Jerry Brown approved a bill supporting restoration
of the Salton Sea, and the Natural Resources Agency is now required to
submit to the Legislature a list of shovel-ready Salton Sea restoration
projects on or before March 31, 2016.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/12/geothermal-visual-nrel-s-new-salton-sea-report-shows-1-800-mw-geothermal-potential.html
No comments:
Post a Comment