Conference article

Chile has introduced sustainability goals in its electricity law in response to increased environmental awareness and the need to achieve higher levels of energy security. In northern Chile; the Atacama Desert has a large available surface with high radiation level; while the tectonic activity along the entire country testifies an ample yet unexploited geothermal resource. The novel concept of hybridizing a geothermal power plant with solar energy assistance is presented here for the particular conditions of Northern Chile. A thermodynamic model is developed to estimate the energy production in a hybrid power plant for two different configurations of solar resource use: adding peak power for a constant geothermal output; and saving geothermal resources for a constant power output. The thermodynamic model considers a single-flash geothermal plant with the addition of solar heat from a parabolic trough field. The solar heat is used to produce superheated steam and to produce additional saturated steam from the separator whenever possible. Results indicate that the energy produced by a geothermal well can be increased up to 11.6% and achieve savings of up to 10.3% in the use of geothermal resources by adding solar assistance when using the single flash geothermal technology. Moreover; the optimal mass flow rate of the geothermal plant is decreased when adding solar assistance. It is recommended to exploit solar energy together with geothermal energy wherever possible; to take advantage of each other’s strengths and mutually eliminate weaknesses.

Concentrated solar power; Geothermal Power Plant; Hybrid; Chile