A review of geothermal energy resources for electricity generation in Oman

Oman, like other Arab gulf countries, depends on oil and gas to produce electricity. However, these resources are not guaranteed to last forever and constitute one of the energy security issues in the country. Oman‘s oil and gas reserves are comparatively low to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries. This article explores the potential of using geothermal energy resources for electricity generation in Oman. Geothermal energy is counted as a type of renewable energy, which means the availability is not affected by the lack of source and the increasing price of fossil oil. The review of geothermal energy shows that cost of electricity generation and greenhouses gases emission is comparatively lower than other form of renewable energy resources. Different types of geothermal plants are discussed with a reference of required temperature for operation of these plants. The binary cycle geothermal power plants are used for low temperature applications (85-175 °C). The temperature of 55 bore holes in Oman is more than 100Ôü░ C which can be used in binary geothermal plants for electricity generation. The maximum temperature (173.68Ôü░ C) is at PDO well ‟Makarem-I” located in the northern part of Oman. There is opportunity for Oman to adopt renewable energy resources and explore the potential of geothermal in more detail. This will help the country to reduce the dependency on oil and gas and compete in the region towards adopting renewable resources.