De-risking Geothermal Production Well Drilling through Cutting-Edge Science

The high risk and cost associated with exploration and production well drilling is a well-known barrier to exploitation of geothermal energy – a major source of clean base-load power critical for achieving a sustainable future. This is particularly relevant in areas of Asia and the Pacific endowed with abundant geothermal resources, but where scale-up of geothermal power is hampered by high upfront costs. This presentation discussed a solution, using science-based imaging of geothermal flow systems to reduce or eliminate the high sunk-cost of geothermal well drilling decision making. GFI adapts to convective geothermal systems the surface seismic data acquisition and processing for fluid flow system mapping that has been proven in shale formation stimulation monitoring. A pilot project planned for an operating geothermal field in Indonesia will show how the deployment of this technology will help geothermal developers identify with a high level of accuracy “where to drill”, greatly reducing the risk, uncertainty, and cost of geothermal exploration.