Abstract
A Distributed Geothermal Market Demand Model (dGeo) has been developed to explore the potential role of geothermal district heating (GDH) systems in meeting current and future thermal energy demands in the continental United States. The dGeo model simulates the technical, economic, and market potential for deployment of GDH systems in the residential and commercial sectors through 2050. Two scenarios are considered: a Business-as-Usual (BAU) scenario assuming status-quo, and an Technology Improvement (TI) Scenario assuming significant technology advancements resulting in lower drilling and exploration costs, lower discount rates, and higher well flow rates. For known hydrothermal resources, dGeo estimates a technical, economic, and market potential of 27 GWth, 2.8 GWth, and 1.0 GWth in the BAU scenario and 27 GWth, 4.6 GWth, and 1.6 GWth in the TI scenario. For EGS resources, the corresponding values are up to two orders of magnitude higher. The simulation results are compared with current GDH systems in United States and Europe.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 59 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2019 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/TP-6A20-71715
Keywords
- direct use
- distributed energy resources
- economic potential
- geothermal
- geothermal district heating systems
- low-temperature
- market potential
- technical potential