EVALUATION OF LEVELISED COST OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED FROM HOT SPRING GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF RAFIN REEWA HOT SPRING, LERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KADUNA STATE
EVALUATION OF LEVELISED COST OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED FROM HOT SPRING GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF RAFIN REEWA HOT SPRING, LERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KADUNA STATE
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Date
2015-04
Authors
MUSA, Aliyu Kofa
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Abstract
This study work, Evaluation of Levelised Cost of Electricity Generated From Hot Spring
Geothermal Resources in Nigeria aims to investigate the economical and technical
prerequisites for electricity generation from Rafin Reewa hot spring located at Lere local
government of Kaduna state; a potential development sites.
Geothermal energy is thought to have great potential in Nigeria due to the high
abundance of sedimentary rocks and numerous hot springs. However, it is still a
relatively new technology that has not yet been proved to be economically viable at
commercial scale in Nigeria.
The study investigated both the technical and economical aspects of geothermal energy as
a resource for electricity production. The technical investigation is based mainly on
identifying the resource temperature at Rafin Reewa hot spring and subsequently which
technology is suitable for use in the study area. In the economical section of the study, the
impact of resource flow rate and resource depth (variables) on factors that determine the
geothermal power plant construction costs are analyzed. Within each variable,
geothermal power plant cost factors are calculated, and subsequently the levelised cost of
electricity (LCOE) at power sales of 50MW was evaluated.
The result of the study shows that the temperature of the geofluid at the study sites (Rafin
Reewa) is 122.14oC, and hence this shows that Rafin Reewa hot spring is a hydrothermal
geothermal resource suitable for air-cooled binary power plant. Consequently, the results
of the study show electricity generation from geofluid of Rafin Reewa hot spring is
viable. On the economic aspect of the study, the result shows that the total plant cost, exclusive
of wells, for an air-cooled binary is $663,609,961 (N132, 721,992,200) for 50MW plant
capacity at study site. The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) in cent/kWh is
calculated using Geothermal Electricity Technology Model (GETEM). To evaluate the
LCOE of the geothermal power plant, the impact of production flow rate and resource
depth on the cost factors that influence LCOE were evaluated. The result of the study
shows that the LCOE at a flow rate of 100kg/s and a resource depth of 1000m is
43.010cent/kWh (N86.02/kWh). Although both variable parameters influence the LCOE,
the study shows that the LCOE is more sensitive to the production flow rate than the
depth of the resources.
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF
POSTGADUATE STUDIES,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
NIGERIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD
OF A MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN MECHANICAL
ENGIEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
NIGERIA
Keywords
EVALUATION,, LEVELISED COST,, ELECTRICITY GENERATED,, HOT SPRING GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES,, NIGERIA, CASE STUDY,, RAFIN REEWA HOT SPRING,, LERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT,, KADUNA STATE,