Geothermal Energy of Russia: Resources, Electric Power Generation, and Heat Supply (a Review)

Abstract

Abstract—: The geothermal resources of Russia have been studied since 1956. Three versions of the country’s geothermal maps and estimation of geothermal field reserves with a total design yield of 218 m3/s have been developed. The largest reserves are available in Kamchatka krai, the Kuril Islands, the Republic of Dagestan, Krasnodar krai, Stavropol krai, and the Republic of Adygea. Steam-hydrothermal fields are located mainly in Kamchatka and the Kunashir Island (the Kuril Islands). In Russia, a total of 26 geothermal fields were in operation in 2019, including 11 fields in Kamchatka, four in Dagestan, and 11 in Krasnodar krai, Stavropol krai, and the Republic of Adygea. In 2019, 743 500 t of geothermal steam (without the Mutnovsky and Verkhne-Mutnovsky fields) and 20.2 million m3 of geothermal water were produced, including 13.9 million m3 in Kamchatka, 4.3 million m3, in Dagestan, and 2.0 million m3 in Krasnodar krai, Stavropol krai, and the Republic of Adygea. In 2019, 161 geothermal wells were in operation in Russia, including 84 wells in Kamchatka, 42 in Dagestan, and 35 in Krasnodar krai, Stavropol krai, and the Republic of Adygea. The Russian geothermal electric power facilities with a total capacity equal to 83.9 MW, which produced 428 million kW h of electric energy in 2019, are reviewed. The main technical characteristics and basic thermal cycle circuits of the Pauzhetka and Mutnovsky geothermal power plants (GeoPPs) are considered, and the problems connected with their operation and the prospects for their future development are pointed out. In 2019, 23 heat distribution stations (HDS) and central heat-supply stations (CHSS) with the total thermal power capacity equal to 82.5 MW and the thermal energy output equal to 282 000 (MW h)/year supplied geothermal heat for regions in Russia. The total length of geothermal heat networks in the two-pipe equivalent was equal to 172 km. The specific features relating to the operation of HDSs and CHSSs are pointed out, and prospects for the future development of geothermal heat supply are determined.