Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy, using dry steam, flash steam or binary cycle power stations. As of 2019, global geothermal capacity reached 15.4 gigawatts, with the United States accounting for about 24 percent of that total, and the underlying geothermal energy is used for electricity generation in 26 countries and for heating in 70 countries, supporting a distinct segment of the utilities industry. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
SectorGeothermal power generation 1 FAQs
How do the three kinds of geothermal power plant differ?
Dry steam uses natural steam directly; flash steam lets hot fluid turn to vapor at lower pressure; binary cycle keeps the reservoir fluid away from the turbine.
Dry steam plants use hydrothermal fluids that are already mostly steam, which is a relatively rare natural occurrence, and the steam is drawn directly to a turbine that drives a generator. Flash steam plants pump very hot fluid from deep underground to a low-pressure tank at the surface, where the drop in pressure makes some of the fluid flash into vapor that drives the turbine. Binary-cycle plants differ from both in that the reservoir fluids never come into contact with the turbine units, because their heat is passed to a second working fluid instead.
What does a geothermal power plant need in order to generate electricity?
It needs hot rocks and fluid deep underground and enough permeability for the fluid to move among the rocks.
The United States Department of Energy describes the needed conditions as hot rocks, fluid and permeability deep underground, permeability being the ability of that fluid to move among the rocks. Where those three are present, electricity can be generated from the heat.
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Additional Source Wikipedia: Global Industry Classification StandardGICS: Renewable Electricity
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Geothermal power
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Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy.
Wikipedia: Global Industry Classification Standard
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