Environmental Assessment of Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant based on Exergy Allocation Factors for Heat and Electricity Production

Maryori Díaz-Ramírez (), Snorri Jokull, Claudio Zuffi, María Dolores Mainar-Toledo and Giampaolo Manfrida
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Maryori Díaz-Ramírez: Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Snorri Jokull: Reykjavik Energy, Bæjarháls 1, 110 Reykjavík, Iceland
Claudio Zuffi: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, Italy
María Dolores Mainar-Toledo: Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Giampaolo Manfrida: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: The Hellisheidi geothermal power plant, located in Iceland, is a combined heat and power double-flash geothermal plant with an installed capacity of 303.3 MW of electricity and 133 MW of hot water. This study aimed to elucidate the environmental impacts of the electricity and heat production from this double-flash geothermal power plant. In this vein, firstly, the most updated inventory of the plant was generated, and secondly, a life-cycle assessment approach based on the exergy allocation factor was carried out instead of applying the traditionally used allocations in terms of mass and energy. The functional unit was defined as the production of 1 kWh of electricity and 1 kWh of hot water for district heating. The life-cycle stages included the (i) construction, (ii) operation (including abatement operations and maintenance), and (iii) well closure of the geothermal plant. All of the life-cycle stages from construction to dismantling were considered. Finally, the results on the partitioning of the environmental impact to electricity and heat with exergy allocations showed that most of the impact should be charged to electricity, as expected. Furthermore, the distribution of the environmental impacts among the life-cycle stages determined that the construction stage was the most impactful for the electricity and heat production. This result was attributable to the large consumption of steel that was demanded during the construction of the geothermal power plant (geothermal wells, equipment, and buildings). Impacts due to the abatement stage demonstrated that this stage satisfactorily reduced the total impact attributed to the three life-cycle stages of the geothermal power plant.

Keywords: life-cycle assessment; environmental indicators; geothermal energy; exergy; electricity; district heating system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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