Where the earth yawns
I first visited Iceland a decade ago. Recently, I returned, courtesy of a European Geothermal Research project, hosted by Reykjavik Energy. We learned about heating and electricity production in Iceland,…
Geothermal
Denmark to embark on an innovative geothermal drilling project
Green Therma, in collaboration with Aalborg Forsyning (the local utility company), is currently preparing to drill a single well to deliver geothermal heat directly to Aalborg’s district heating network. While…
When the ESP breaks down even before geothermal energy production has started
Since its wells were drilled, I have kept a close eye on the United Downs geothermal project in Cornwall, southwest England. The production hole, a record-breaking well, was completed around…
Fracture connectivity and power laws
It was about a year ago that I heard about a deep geothermal drilling project in Finland (St1 Deep Heat Project), during which a couple of 6 km deep wells…
The hidden lithium treasure of South Australia
Despite receiving just 165 mm of rain annually, Coopers Creek flows year-round, an anomaly that has lured generations of explorers in pre-history to early European settlers. Exploration by geologist Reg…
Are deep closed-loop geothermal systems doomed?
“Claims of universal geographical scalability of Closed Loop Geothermal Systems (CLGS) in power generation at competitive prices are not supported by simulation results,” is what the authors conclude in a…
Critical look at Fervo Cape Station data raises questions over sustainability
In September 2024, Fervo made public a pre-print containing plots and analyses for their Cape Station project in Utah. Although not nearly as detailed as the Blue Mountain dataset released…
Embracing uncertainty in geothermal exploration
“If we can’t discuss uncertainty, we won’t go anywhere.” Geothermal Radar’s co-founder Philip Ball is adamant about what is currently lacking in the planning of new geothermal exploration wells. “Where…
Shaving off costs for geothermal exploration and production
“ Let’s face it,” says Arndt Peterhaensel from TRACS, “with the energy density of geothermal energy being so much lower than from hydrocarbons, the service sector around this resource has…
Extract and re-inject water, from the same well
The city of Munich is blessed with a very permeable succession of Quaternary sediments that enables a high and consistent supply of groundwater flow. As such, there is great potential…
Building a reservoir model for a geothermal field
The first well in the Ohaaki geothermal field in New Zealand was drilled in 1965. However, it lasted until 1989 before power production really started, even though large-scale testing of…
The “nugget effect” in geothermal exploration
“We see permeabilities of 10 Darcy and above 15 % porosity, easily,” says Alan Bischoff. Alan is associate professor of geoenergy at the University of Turku in Finland. In that…