LAPSE:2023.35556v1
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.35556v1
Environmental Assessment of Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant based on Exergy Allocation Factors for Heat and Electricity Production
May 23, 2023
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
district heating system, electricity, environmental indicators, Exergy, geothermal energy, life-cycle assessment
Suggested Citation
Díaz-Ramírez M, Jokull S, Zuffi C, Mainar-Toledo MD, Manfrida G. Environmental Assessment of Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant based on Exergy Allocation Factors for Heat and Electricity Production. (2023). LAPSE:2023.35556v1
Author Affiliations
Díaz-Ramírez M: Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain; Instituto Universitario de Investigación CIRCE, Fundación CIRCE, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain [ORCID]
Jokull S: Reykjavik Energy, Bæjarháls 1, 110 Reykjavík, Iceland [ORCID]
Zuffi C: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, Italy
Mainar-Toledo MD: Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain [ORCID]
Manfrida G: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, Italy [ORCID]
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
16
Issue
9
First Page
3616
Year
2023
Publication Date
2023-04-22
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: en16093616, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.35556v1
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doi:10.3390/en16093616
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May 23, 2023
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CC BY 4.0
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[v1] (Original Submission)
May 23, 2023
 
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Calvin Tsay
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