Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ridwan Febrianto1, Jane Bydder2, Aaron Hochwimmer3, Greg Ussher2, Ryan Libbey2
1: PT. Jacobs Group Indonesia, 2: Jacobs NZ Limited, 3: Jacobs Projects (Philippines) Inc.
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Figure 1: Regions where <210°C geothermal reservoirs have been developed for power generation. Showing
average reservoir temperature and net installed capacity (world basemap with highlighted geothermal
regions from ThinkGeoEnergy.com).
Table 1: Recent pumped geothermal projects in the USA and Honduras (partially derived from Hernandez et al.,
2016)
Field Name Development Name MW Average Typical well Average Price Power Provider Contract
(net) Temp depth (m) MW/well (US¢ Start
(°C) (MW net) /kWh) Date
Jersey Valley Jersey Valley Plant 10 165 950 3.5 6.6 Ormat 2012
Neal Hot Springs Neal Hot Springs Plant 22 137 700-1100 - 9.6 US Geothermal 2012
San Emidio San Emidio Plant 8.6 138 700-1000 - 8.9 US Geothermal 2012
Cove Fort- Cove Fort Binary Plant (OEC-1, 25 150 1000-2300 4 7.9 Enel Green Power 2013
Sulphurdale 2)
Wild Rose Don A Campbell 1 16.2 128 450-600 4 9.9 Ormat 2014
McGinness Hills McGinness Hills - Phase 1, 63.7 165 600-1000 6.5 8.6 Ormat 2015
McGinness Hills - Phase 2
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as outlined in the experience of Ravier et al. (2015) The ESP temperature limit arises because the pump
at the Soultz EGS site in France. motor is submerged and the geothermal brine acts as
a cooling fluid. Vendors have claimed pumps can
The two main types of downhole pumps in use are operate higher than 160°C but this can translate into
lineshaft vertical turbine pumps (LSP) and electrical derating of the motor output and/or reduced MTBF.
submersible pumps (ESP), distinguishable by the
location of the motor. The former have been utilized Table 2: Lineshaft vs electrical submersible pumps
extensively in USA since the 1970s (refer Figure 3), Lineshaft Electrical
the latter are less widely used in geothermal Pumps Submersible
applications but have been used in France, USA and Pumps
Germany (refer Figure 4). Max well depth Limited to Relatively
~730m deeper > 1km
Both types have typical flow rate limitations related Well deviation Production Deviated
casing must production
to well/pump diameter, motor power and
be vertical casing possible
temperature. Until recently, the typical flow limits Time Time Quick
for LSPs were about 150 kg/s, however, larger installation consuming
diameter LSPs capable of pumping >225 kg/s have Motor driver At surface Down hole
recently been manufactured and installed at a few location
projects in the USA and Central America. Temperature High ~215°C Limited to
capability ~160°C (higher
Pumped geothermal wells are not presently used in claimed by
Indonesia, but some of the companies that develop vendors)
these projects in the USA and Europe are actively Pump and Higher Lower
seeking or developing projects in Indonesia. It is motor
efficiency
reasonable to assume that they can bring or attract
Wear prone Less (lower More (higher
the services required for this type of production if speed) speed)
they see the development opportunities pumped Capital and Less More expensive
systems in the country. O&M Cost expensive
Maintenance Predictable Routine
schedule inspection
Flow rates Less (~150 More (~250
kg/s) kg/s)
Delivery Up to 7 MPa Up to 7.5 MPa
pressures
Environmental Oil None
Impact lubrication
system used
for shaft
bearings
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POTENTIAL RESOURCES IN INDONESIA
Potential geothermal settings for pumped well
developments primarily include:
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about 160°C and so would not flow reasonably positive parameters they estimated that a
naturally. levelized cost of electricity could be around 10 to
12.5 US¢/kWh. This estimate was calculated
Muraoka et al. (2010) note the presence of making some assumptions regarding well
many geothermal systems particularly productivity. We have conducted further analysis to
associated with 13 identified pull-apart determine what range of well productivity may be
basins along the Sumatra Fault Zone. achieved in the Indonesian context.
There are often volcanic features in
proximity to these systems because some It has long been recognized that self-flowing wells
of the magmatism is also influenced by tend to have greater capacity at high temperatures
these structures. However, many of the than at lower temperatures. This is because the
fields along the Great Sumatran Fault higher energy content at high temperatures helps
System appear to be dominantly drive the well flow (driven by fluid flashing and
structurally-controlled, rather than directly volume expansion) and also the reservoir fluid itself
associated with central volcanoes. has more energy per unit mass. The result is that
resources with reservoir temperatures <210°C
Herdianita and Mandradewi (2010) typically cannot be developed using self-flowing
describe the low temperature system at wells as the obtainable flow rates are too low –
Cisolok-Cisukarame in Java which may exceptions are systems with elevated gas contexts
have once been a hotter convective system, (e.g., systems in the Menderes Graben, Turkey) and
but which now may be a ~160°C outflow systems with shallow or artesian piezometric
system associated with permeable surfaces (e.g., Beowawe, USA).
limestones.
Further to this, modelling of lower temperature self-
Humaedi et al. (2016) describe wells that flowing wells has highlighted that they can achieve
have drilled a highly permeable outflow useful production where water levels are high and
with temperature about 200°C from a good reservoir permeability is encountered. The
hotter part of the Rantau Dedap system in implication is that lower temperature projects with
Sumatra. This thick and permeable self-flowing wells need to be developed in low
outflow is an example of the strong elevations close to the hydrostatic water level of the
outflows that can occur from volcanic reservoir, and not be designed to have wellpads on
systems. If targeted at low elevations, these the ridgelines of steep terrain, for example.
sorts of resources could present an
attractive development target in some Modelling of pumped and self-discharge well flows
fields. reported in the IFC report “Success of Geothermal
Wells: A Global Study” from 2013 (Figure 7) was
On the basis of temperature, an estimate of the based on earlier work but showed a step change in
potential resource for utilizing pumped wells for well capacity as temperature increases and pumps
power generation can be inferred from Fauzi’s reach their temperature limit (then identified at
(2015) classification of geothermal resources in 190°C) and the production from self-flow wells was
Indonesia, as shown in Table 3. lower than pumped wells in the middle region
around 200°C.
Table 3: Indonesian geothermal resources
classification That work assumed a maximum pump set depth of
Classification Temperature range MWe 457 m and a maximum pump flowrate of 2,500 gpm
Low enthalpy <100°C 850 (about 150 kg/s). This tended to limit the maximum
100°C to <150°C 2,660 capacity of any pumped wells to about 7.3 MW (net
150°C to 190°C 4,175 excluding pumped power (??) – the IFC report is not
High enthalpy >190°C 16,134 clear about this distinction). Subsequently, it is now
common to set pumps deeper and also some
manufacturers are working towards about 50%
WELL PRODUCTIVITY greater flows. Also, ambient conditions in Indonesia
Hochwimmer et al. (2013) and Febrianto et al (2016) are somewhat different to the US (affecting the
showed that the economic feasibility of a pumped efficiency of the condensing cycle in the binary
well development depends on resource extent and plant), so we have conducted some modelling to
temperature, permeability (in terms of well update these estimates of capacity for application in
productivity), drilling depth and parasitic load, and Indonesia.
pump reliability. For a case in Indonesia with
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Figure 7: Well productivity variation with temperature. From IFC (2013), Success of Geothermal Wells: A
Global Study. Note the “break” between pumped and non-pumped wells could now be shifted to a
higher temperature due to recent technology advancements.
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Figure 8: Productivity of pumped wells as a function of temperature and productivity index (PI). This assumes
a water level in the reservoir that is in hydrostatic equilibrium with the surface.
Figure 9: Summary of the results of this modelling, overlaid on the IFC (2013)
Using typical financial assumptions for a State This is about 10% higher than a similar sized project
Owned Enterprise (SOE) developer which has a high temperature project using typical costs and well
lower required IRR and access to concessional productivity assumptions for that type of
finance, and assuming the following main input development.
assumptions, our preliminary modelling resulted in
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Testing the sensitivity of the different key net per well over a resource temperature range of
parameters showed that the well capacity 160 to 200°C. Resources with temperatures less
(MW/well), project size (MW) and well depth (m) than 160°C may not currently be economic in
were the parameters that have most effect on Indonesia.
required tariff (Figure 10).
The reasonable indicated well power capacities (in
terms of MW/well) and potential for drilling
CONCLUSION shallower wells at lower cost than is required at
many typical high temperature projects indicates
This paper has outlined the current status of pumped
that pumped systems may be cost competitive with
well technology, typical areas in Indonesia where
similar sized high temperature projects.
this technology is appropriate and estimates of
expected well productivity. Preliminary financial modelling indicates that, with
reasonably favorable conditions, it may be possible
Indonesia potentially has a large amount of low and
for a SOE developer to develop a project in a tariff
medium temperature geothermal resources that regime of about 12 US¢/kWh. However, further
traditionally have been overlooked in favor of economic analysis comparing the development with
exploiting high temperature magmatic resources. other traditional geothermal developments is
warranted.
Low temperature systems have been developed
internationally, and pumped systems have been the
The findings of this study indicate that lower
dominant type of geothermal technology utilized in temperature resources may be attractive targets
projects in the USA over the last 5 years. In the USA
(from a technical standpoint) for pumped well
such projects appear to be cost competitive, even
developments in Indonesia if they meet the
while operating in a very competitive tariff market. following technical criteria: (1) Resource
temperatures over 160°C; (2) shallow/artesian
Modelling of pumped wells in Indonesian
piezometric levels, and / or the ability to site
conditions shows that with reasonable productivity wellpads at low elevations relative to system
indices (i.e., moderate permeability of at least 20
hydrology.
tph/bar) it should be possible to achieve 4 to 9 MWe
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Proceedings, 41st Workshop on Geothermal
Reservoir Engineering 2016.
The work to model pumped well productivity for
Indonesian conditions, and compiling information International Finance Corporation – IFC. (2013).
on recent global pumped well projects, was funded Success of Geothermal Wells: A Global Study.
under the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of
Muraoka, H., Takahashi, M., Sundhoro, H., Dwipa,
Foreign Affairs GEOINZ program. GEOINZ has the
S., Soeda, Y., Momita, M., and Shimada, K.
objective of supporting the accelerated development
(2010). Geothermal Systems Constrained by
of geothermal projects in Indonesia.
the Sumatran Fault and Its Pull-Apart Basins in
Sumatra, Western Indonesia. Proceedings
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