Stages of a Integrated Geothermal Project (original) (raw)

Best practices guide for geothermal exploration

2014

Though significant growth in electricity generation from geothermal energy has occurred worldwide in recent years, the high-risk cost of drilling to confirm the existence of a viable geothermal resource remains one of the key challenges facing the industry. This guide can be used by developers and contractors to identify the most appropriate tools and techniques to define the resource, and by investors to ensure that projects have made all reasonable effort to reduce risks. This guide provides developers with an outline of various methodologies and strategies employed in the exploration for geothermal resources for power generation. The first chapter provides an introduction to the topic and the scope of the guide. Chapter two introduces the concept of geothermal play types and describes the range of geological settings in which potentially exploitable geothermal systems may be present. Chapter three gives an overview of the typical sequence of phases in any geothermal exploration a...

IMAGE: the EU Funded Research Project Integrated Methods for Advanced Geothermal Exploration

2020

In November 2013, the four year project IMAGE (Integrated Methods for Advanced Geothermal Exploration) has been launched, harnessing research power of key research institutes in Europe and industrial players to develop novel exploration techniques for geothermal power. The objective is to develop new methods to scrutinize and appraise geothermal systems in such a way that exploration wells can be sited with greater accuracy than before, thereby maximizing the success rate and reducing the cost of drilling associated with geothermal projects. In addition, such precision wells would reduce any potential environmental impact. New research methods will be tested in well-known geothermal systems, both in continental sedimentary systems in Europe and in high-temperature systems related to volcanism where one might expect supercritical fluids, as in magmatic areas, such as in Iceland and Italy. The IMAGE project will develop a reliable science based exploration and assessment method to &qu...

Geothermal project management

2016

Geothermal projects are capital intensive business, where upfront costs of projects, from the early exploration stage to the operation of a geothermal power plant may take years to develop, and the initial capital requirements is comparatively high. One of the most important issues in design of geothermal projects is the management of the project, which comprises planning, organization, motivation and the engagement of controlling resources. Planning plays an important role for the development of geothermal resources and must be carefully performed from the beginning and through the entire period of the project. The initial exploration of a geothermal resource to an operational geothermal power plant is complex and quite expensive, and its success depends heavily on a sound project management strategy, based on experienced Geoscientists and Engineers.

Methods of Early Geothermal Energy Resource Assessment - A Modern Conceptual and Mathematical Model

2015

Early in a geothermal field development the owners and financiers want to know the number of MWe capacity of the plant that can be sustained by the new field although very limited information about the field has been gathered. In the past 50 years 3 methods of early assessment have been developed, each based on different concepts, mathematics, and statistics. Models are based on a conceptual model of the field. The “Volumetric method” was implemented more than 40 years ago, when no history or data from many fields and thousands of boreholes were available. It is basically a static energy calculation and the method can provide an early estimate of MWe capacity, normally greater than the natural real one. The “Monte Carlo Simulation” method produces a wide range of possible solutions, and then a statistical probabilistic value can estimate the final geothermal field estimate of MWe. The application to real cases (e.g. Iceland) proved that the resulting estimates are still above the tr...

Geothermal Electricity Generation, Challenges, Opportunities and Recommendations

International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering, 2019

Geothermal energy has a potential for several applications including geo-exchange, direct thermal application and power generation. Whereas the untapped capacity is over 100 GW globally, its growth realizes only 3-4% growth per year while the global share of electricity generation is less than 1%. Limitations of geothermal energy include scarcity of exploitable sites, remote locations often far from load centers and undesirable gaseous emissions. Project development faces challenges of poor funding, technology and long gestation periods of between 5 and 10 years for conventional power plants. Smooth implementation of geothermal project requires, social acceptance, through minimization of environmental effect, avoidance of adverse effects on the people and giving direct benefits to local communities. It is through both subsurface and power plant technologies that environmental challenges of geothermal power plants are addressed. Research and development into new, efficient and cost-effective technologies will enhance safety and environmental integrity with respect to geothermal energy and electricity development. A geothermal power plant project generally goes through exploration or prefeasibility stage, drilling or feasibility stage and development stage which involves development of production wells, reinjection wells, steam gathering system and power plant construction and commissioning. The last phase is power plant operation and maintenance before the plant is finally retired upon end of the generation contract or license. These phases of the cycle before generation all combined take relatively long and there is need to improve. The use of Wellhead power plants currently provide a quick access to geothermal electricity ahead of full development of a conventional power plant hence enabling quicker access to geothermal electricity. Drilling which is a critical process in geothermal resource exploration and development is expensive, and therefore development of geophysical methods to resolve this problem is highly desirable as it could significantly reduce the cost of geothermal energy development hence advanced technology in drilling and upfront activities will reduce costs and risks in development. Better technology in upfront activities will significantly reduce the high risks and costs while power plant conversion technologies and better reservoir management and engineering will increase output, resource availability and efficiency of resource exploitation. Geothermal energy resources are significant and if the technical, financial, environmental, social and logistical challenges are addressed, it can be a major player in global energy and electricity market as renewable, safe and cheap resources. Research and development of technology and solutions to current challenges should be enhanced. The study concluded that technical barriers, high financial costs and long gestation periods prevent faster development of geothermal electricity.

Assessment of geothermal resources for power generation

Geothermal energy is the heat of the earth included in the rock matrix (90%) and the pore fluid (10%). It is renewable, all time available with a beforehand-predicted power generation potential. After defining the main parameters of a geothermal resource (area, volume, geology, geochemistry, temperatures, fluid properties, etc.) geothermal resources can be estimated by (i) calculating the natural heat flow of the area, (ii) by calculating the stored heat and multiplying it by the recovery factor and the conversion efficiency and expressing the result as MWe of installed power over a 20-25 years period, and (iii) by computer simulation of reservoir parameters under possible exploitation scenarios.

Development of Exploration Methods for Engineered Geothermal Systems

2010

The primary objective of this study is to develop and test the seismic component of a calibrated exploration method that integrates geological, geophysical, and geochemical data to identify potential drilling targets for Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS). In exploring for EGS sites, the primary selection criteria identified by the AltaRock Energy, Inc. (AltaRock) Team are, in order of importance, (1) temperature, (2) rock type at the depth of interest; and (3) stress regime. The core exploration methodology we develop for this project is a new seismic technique which uses complementary information derived from regional tomographic models of body (P and S) and surface waves, statistically integrated with seismic velocity models derived from ambient noise to predict temperature and rock type. Using the new estimated seismic velocity models, we test the supposition that the uncertainty and the degree of non-uniqueness in predictions of temperature and rock type from the seismic data ...