Review of the Current State of the Geothermal Industry with a Focus on The Netherlands

Abstract

Energy demands are rising while fossil fuels are depleting at faster rates. Coupled with environmental problems such as global warming and climate change the need for green, sustainable, renewable energy has been highlighted. Geothermal energy looks to be a future player in the energy industry. Methods of heat extraction and electricity production are examined as well as the potential and state of the geothermal industry in the Netherlands. Problems faced by the industry include corrosion and scaling which is studied in great detail using the PHREEQC geochemical program. The program simulates a 1-D geothermal system and models mineral and gas solubility to see its affect during fluid transport in a system. It is found that there is significant scaling and corrosion during pressure drop especially at 10 bar of pressure. Temperature drop also leads to significant scaling. Knowledge can be used for future operations in prevention and inhibition of corrosion and scaling thus improving system efficiency and reducing operational costs. Improvements are required in the databases by experimental solubility data. Furthermore, understanding can be improved by gathering information from operators at the geothermal plants via standardized methods of sampling and analysis.