The East African Rift System is a well known source of Geothermal Energy in Africa, but there is potential for low to medium enthalpy heat resources in more than 25# African countries associated with intrusive plutonic rock formations. Often these locations have been the site of shallow mineral exploration and […]
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Another Geothermal Play example is Intrusive Rock as seen in NW Geysers in California. Significant deep heat resources that took some time to fully identify and evaluate in this underdeveloped area. Deepening two exploration wells and running a pilot development helped prove up these resources and open up the location […]
As Europe is facing high electricity costs and energy security issues, there is an economic, environmentally sustainable energy source beneath their feet – persistent Geothermal Energy. In addition to other good prospective locations in Western and Eastern Europe, there are two good basins in Germany – the Upper Rhine Graben […]
La Palma’s recent volcano reminded everyone of the geothermal energies below some volcanic islands. Nearby Tenerife has been explored and identified with geothermal potential. This flyer is about their neighbouring island Gran Canaria and how initial exploration has identified geothermal potential. Repsol recently announced its plans to investigate this potential […]
There are good technologies to capture Carbon and tens of thousands of suitable subsurface locations for Storage. With the continued use of carbon based energy sources and processes during our Energy Transition, we should be rapidly scaling up CCS.
Geothermal Plays have been described, the types and methods of data collection listed, and the way assessments are performed explained. Here are some examples of the various types of Geothermal Plays, their geologic settings, heat sources and transport mechanisms, and their locations.
After identifying the type of Geothermal Play, and performing exploration to obtain data, we would be able to make an Assessment of the potential resource to see if it could be economically developed. With modern technologies and tools, there are tens of thousands of suitable locations available to help access […]
When evaluating a potential Geothermal Play reservoir, there are several aspects to be investigated: (1) Trap Integrity, (2) Geothermal Reservoir (properties), (3) Heat Flow, and (4) Structure. Data is measured at the Surface, in the Overburden, and in the Reservoir or Aquifer. The integration of this data and how it […]
With conduction-dominated plays representing an increasingly attractive source of Geothermal Energy, the potential Geothermal reservoir properties need to be evaluated for suitability. One approach is to evaluate the ratio of porosity to permeability and compare it to other locations and applications. This illustration shows some good examples of rock lithologies […]
Fortunately with low and medium enthalpy power generation solutions, thousands of additional locations would have potential for Geothermal Energy developments subject to normal exploration. Conduction dominated plays include deep aquifers (hydrothermal) or hot dry rock (petrothermal) heated by locally elevated near normal heat flow. Once again there may not be […]
Continuing the series, here is Part 2 of 7 about Convection Dominated Geothermal plays. In this case there is an upflow of fluids transporting heat from depth to shallower reservoirs (or the surface). Probably more well known than some other plays since the majority of operating Geothermal power plants are […]
First in a series of 7 Posts about Geothermal Plays. Better understanding of a location’s geology can lead to appreciation of the potential for accessing Geothermal Energy. Technologies and tools have advanced rapidly to open up the technical and economic potential for Geothermal Energy across many more locations. Exploring for […]