A tool for evaluating geothermal power exploitability and its application to Ischia, Southern Italy

The paper proposes a method to evaluate the potential for electric power production at any site of possible
geothermal interest. Accounting for geological data of the reservoirs, the method allows the computation
of the available electrical power of the investigated site. Electrical energy production from geothermal
sources is realized through different techniques, such as single flash and double flash, dry steam, and binary
ORC plants. The technique chosen to be the most productive is determined by analyzing a specific
range of geofluid properties, mainly temperature and pressure. Moreover, each plant typology has a global
efficiency that may be correlated to geofluid enthalpy by empiric relations available in literature. The proposed
evaluation method brings together all these correlations, yielding the power availability from a geosource,
once its temperature and pressure are known. The method takes as input the geofluid available
flow rate, its pressure, temperature and non-condensable gas content. It defines the best plant option from
these parameters, calculates its global efficiency and finally returns the actual available power. For sites of
geothermic interest, such as the volcanic island of Ischia in Southern Italy, the results of the application of
this new method clearly highlight the most suitable zones for power plants installations.