Geothermal could grow by 50% until 2020 in Italy
Larderello geothermal power plant, Tuscany/ Italy
Alexander Richter
10 Jul 2010
Geothermal power production in Italy currently produces 5,500 GWh of electricity mostly from plants in the region of Tuscany, but could increase up to 7,500 GWh by 2020, so the Italian Geothermal Energy Association.
Currently the region of Tuscany in Italy is the only one producing geothermal power in Italy, and this was one topic covered by a recent event in Pisa. At the Green City International Energy Forum, speakers talked about that in a depth of 3,000 to 4,000 meters aquifier are being tapped into to extract steam at high temperature and pressure (particularly in Larderello and Travale-Radicondoli) or water to high temperature and pressure that can be turned into steam (particularly in the areas of Amiata and Piancastagnaio Bagnore) through binary turbines to produce electricity.
Currently, so Giancarlo Passaleva, President of the Italian Geothermal Energy Association, 5.5 billion kilowatt hours (5,500 GWh) are produced per year in Tuscany.
He then talks about, that one “can reasonably expect that by 2020 geothermal energy could produce up to 7-7.5 billion kWh (7-7,500 GWh), which would represent about 150% of current production. Direct use could also play an increasingly important role, and can be found at sufficient temperatures at much more modest depths that those for electricity production.
Source: ClickUtility (in Italian)
