Salton Sea Geothermal Development - Nontechnical Barriers to Entry - Analysis and Perspectives
The report included in this submission details the nontechnical barriers to entry for development of geothermal resources in the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea provides an economically viable opportunity for replacing the energy imported by California which makes up 25 percent of Californias total electricity supply. However, geothermal energy in the Salton Sea has been largely undeveloped since the 1980s. This report preforms a techno-economic analysis of Geothermal Energy in the Salton Sea and develops a model to quantify the nontechnical challenges and opportunities associated with new geothermal development in the Salton Sea.
Geothermal energy offers an opportunity to generate baseload, renewable energy that can help support the transition to an energy economy with reduced impacts on climate change and replace older, more expensive, nonrenewable, and more resource-impacting energy-generation facilities. The United States has the largest known geothermal resource in the world, with over 31 GW of conventional geothermal potential. However, due to market conditions, an inability to properly quantify both electrical grid benefits and resource stability, and the difficulty of exploring and developing the geothermal resource, few new geothermal projects have come online over the past three decades. The Salton Sea, in Imperial County, California, provides a prime location and opportunity to develop new geothermal resources. The Salton Sea contains a robust, well-mapped, geothermal resource, with opportunities for concurrent development of lithium and other mineral resources. This report describes the history of geothermal development at the Salton Sea and compares geothermal to other renewable energy sources in the area. The report then uses a techno-economic analysis (TEA) model to analyze the relative benefits and costs of various challenges and opportunities and provides recommendations for streamlining geothermal development at the Salton Sea and elsewhere. The challenges and opportunities analyzed in the TEA model were informed by stakeholder interviews and literature reviews. Based upon the identified challenges and opportunities and the results of the TEA model, primary findings are that certain nontechnical barriers such as permitting costs play only a minor role in determining the viability of development of the geothermal resource at the Salton Sea. Other barriers such as permitting timelines, government/agency coordination, and the potential co-location of lithium extraction with a geothermal plant may result in much larger impacts on project viability.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - The report included in this submission details the nontechnical barriers to entry for development of geothermal resources in the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea provides an economically viable opportunity for replacing the energy imported by California which makes up 25 percent of Californias total electricity supply. However, geothermal energy in the Salton Sea has been largely undeveloped since the 1980s. This report preforms a techno-economic analysis of Geothermal Energy in the Salton Sea and develops a model to quantify the nontechnical challenges and opportunities associated with new geothermal development in the Salton Sea.
Geothermal energy offers an opportunity to generate baseload, renewable energy that can help support the transition to an energy economy with reduced impacts on climate change and replace older, more expensive, nonrenewable, and more resource-impacting energy-generation facilities. The United States has the largest known geothermal resource in the world, with over 31 GW of conventional geothermal potential. However, due to market conditions, an inability to properly quantify both electrical grid benefits and resource stability, and the difficulty of exploring and developing the geothermal resource, few new geothermal projects have come online over the past three decades. The Salton Sea, in Imperial County, California, provides a prime location and opportunity to develop new geothermal resources. The Salton Sea contains a robust, well-mapped, geothermal resource, with opportunities for concurrent development of lithium and other mineral resources. This report describes the history of geothermal development at the Salton Sea and compares geothermal to other renewable energy sources in the area. The report then uses a techno-economic analysis (TEA) model to analyze the relative benefits and costs of various challenges and opportunities and provides recommendations for streamlining geothermal development at the Salton Sea and elsewhere. The challenges and opportunities analyzed in the TEA model were informed by stakeholder interviews and literature reviews. Based upon the identified challenges and opportunities and the results of the TEA model, primary findings are that certain nontechnical barriers such as permitting costs play only a minor role in determining the viability of development of the geothermal resource at the Salton Sea. Other barriers such as permitting timelines, government/agency coordination, and the potential co-location of lithium extraction with a geothermal plant may result in much larger impacts on project viability.
AU - Goodman, Dave
A2 - Mirick, Patrick
A3 - Wilson, Kyle
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
DO -
KW - geothermal
KW - energy
KW - salton sea
KW - technoeconomic analysis
KW - MAGE
KW - TEA
KW - nontechnical
KW - barriers
KW - lithium
KW - resource development
KW - resource
KW - California
KW - technoeconomic
KW - techno economic
KW - techno-economic
KW - analysis
KW - model
KW - development
KW - feasibility
KW - report
KW - resource potential
KW - lithium extraction
LA - English
DA - 2022/06/28
PY - 2022
PB - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
T1 - Salton Sea Geothermal Development - Nontechnical Barriers to Entry - Analysis and Perspectives
UR - https://data.openei.org/submissions/7500
ER -
Goodman, Dave, et al. Salton Sea Geothermal Development - Nontechnical Barriers to Entry - Analysis and Perspectives. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 28 June, 2022, GDR. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1389.
Goodman, D., Mirick, P., & Wilson, K. (2022). Salton Sea Geothermal Development - Nontechnical Barriers to Entry - Analysis and Perspectives. [Data set]. GDR. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1389
Goodman, Dave, Patrick Mirick, and Kyle Wilson. Salton Sea Geothermal Development - Nontechnical Barriers to Entry - Analysis and Perspectives. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, June, 28, 2022. Distributed by GDR. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1389
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_7500,
title = {Salton Sea Geothermal Development - Nontechnical Barriers to Entry - Analysis and Perspectives},
author = {Goodman, Dave and Mirick, Patrick and Wilson, Kyle},
abstractNote = {The report included in this submission details the nontechnical barriers to entry for development of geothermal resources in the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea provides an economically viable opportunity for replacing the energy imported by California which makes up 25 percent of Californias total electricity supply. However, geothermal energy in the Salton Sea has been largely undeveloped since the 1980s. This report preforms a techno-economic analysis of Geothermal Energy in the Salton Sea and develops a model to quantify the nontechnical challenges and opportunities associated with new geothermal development in the Salton Sea.
Geothermal energy offers an opportunity to generate baseload, renewable energy that can help support the transition to an energy economy with reduced impacts on climate change and replace older, more expensive, nonrenewable, and more resource-impacting energy-generation facilities. The United States has the largest known geothermal resource in the world, with over 31 GW of conventional geothermal potential. However, due to market conditions, an inability to properly quantify both electrical grid benefits and resource stability, and the difficulty of exploring and developing the geothermal resource, few new geothermal projects have come online over the past three decades. The Salton Sea, in Imperial County, California, provides a prime location and opportunity to develop new geothermal resources. The Salton Sea contains a robust, well-mapped, geothermal resource, with opportunities for concurrent development of lithium and other mineral resources. This report describes the history of geothermal development at the Salton Sea and compares geothermal to other renewable energy sources in the area. The report then uses a techno-economic analysis (TEA) model to analyze the relative benefits and costs of various challenges and opportunities and provides recommendations for streamlining geothermal development at the Salton Sea and elsewhere. The challenges and opportunities analyzed in the TEA model were informed by stakeholder interviews and literature reviews. Based upon the identified challenges and opportunities and the results of the TEA model, primary findings are that certain nontechnical barriers such as permitting costs play only a minor role in determining the viability of development of the geothermal resource at the Salton Sea. Other barriers such as permitting timelines, government/agency coordination, and the potential co-location of lithium extraction with a geothermal plant may result in much larger impacts on project viability.},
url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1389},
year = {2022},
howpublished = {GDR, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1389},
note = {Accessed: 2025-05-03}
}
Details
Data from Jun 28, 2022
Last updated Jul 13, 2022
Submitted Jun 28, 2022
Organization
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Contact
Dave Goodman
509.373.4240
Authors
Original Source
https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1389Research Areas
Keywords
geothermal, energy, salton sea, technoeconomic analysis, MAGE, TEA, nontechnical, barriers, lithium, resource development, resource, California, technoeconomic, techno economic, techno-economic, analysis, model, development, feasibility, report, resource potential, lithium extractionDOE Project Details
Project Name Addressing Non-Technical Barriers to Deploying Geothermal Electricity Projects in the United States
Project Lead Sean Porse
Project Number 37186