What The Experts Say

This project evaluated techno-economic performance for a sample Eavor-Loop 2.0 design for electricity production and direct-use heating. The Eavor-Loop 2.0 design investigated is a 7.5-km deep closed-loop geothermal system consisting of 12 laterals for a total of more than 90 km of downhole well and lateral length.

Different electricity generating technologies are often compared using the Levelized Costs of Electricity (LCOE), which summarize different ratios of fixed to variable costs into a single cost metric. They have been criticized for ignoring the effects of intermittency and non-dispatchability. This paper introduces the Levelized Full System Costs of Electricity (LFSCOE), a novel cost evaluation metric that compares the costs of serving the entire market using just one source plus storage. Like LCOE, and in contrast to alternatives such as System LCOE, LFSCOE condense the cost for each technology into one number per market. The paper calculates LFSCOE for several technologies using data from two different markets. It then discusses some refinements, including the LFSCOE-95 metric that require each technology to supply only 95% of total demand.

The energy generation and consumption in the Netherlands is slowly but steadily shifting away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, and solar, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In order to improve renewable energy security and affordability, other sources of renewable energy, like geothermal energy, need to become part of the energy mix in the near future. At present, the majority of geothermal wells in The Netherlands are shallow wells, but deeper wells with high power output will be required to make a larger contribution to the overall energy supply. In this light, the ELFO project assessed the feasibility and economic viability of a deep well system: the Eavor Loop, consisting of 12 multi-laterals. The consortium of TNO (independent research institution), Eavor (geothermal energy company), Huisman Geo BV (drilling equipment & research) and EnNatuurlijk (operator of district heating) evaluated the suitability of this technology as primary heat source for city heating networks in the Tilburg area and for possible wider adaption in the Netherlands.