Hot-dry-rock geothermal energy: Feasibility for Italy

This paper first surveys currently operating and planned geothermal energy parks in Italy and gives an assessment of this Italian industrial sector's basic technical difficulties, performance shown thus far and potential capabilities. Noting current difficulties on the part of ENEL (the Italian National Electricity Board) in finding new environmentally compatible sites with sufficiently high temperatures and pressures so as to allow the use of conventional geothermal fluid heat recovery systems, this paper suggests recourse to closed cycle hot-dry-rock heat recovery systems. Based on the results of the Los Alamos hot-dry-rock heat recovery demonstration program, an analysis is made of the technical-cost feasibility of the application of this innovative method to recover thermal energy from Italy's readily accessible geothermal resources. In fact, it's estimated that Italy has substantial hot-dry-rock resources located at depths of less than 3,000 meters and at temperatures of from 300 to 400 degrees C