Making use of geothermal brine in Indonesia: binary demonstration power plant Lahendong/Pangolombian

Abstract

This paper describes a novel concept for integrating binary plants at a geothermal site which has been realized within a demonstration project in Indonesia. By using an intermediate hot water and an intermediate cooling water cycle it is possible to integrate a fully-automated binary plant with flexible operation in an existing, predominantly manually operated geothermal field. The paper gives technical component details and describes specific design considerations of the demonstration power plant. Furthermore operational data and experiences are shared. Current binary plant operation is characterized by many starts and stops because of several technical challenges, e.g. electrical grid conditions, as well as by off-design conditions. The proven maximum power capacity until now is approximately 400 kW. By means of a numerical model it is shown that the design capacity of 500 kW can be reached.