| Title | Governments and Private Companies in the United States and Germany Partner to Drive Development of Innovative Geothermal Drilling, Evaluation and Completion Technologies |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dick, Aaron; Freyer, Carsten; Macpherson, John; Oppelt, Joachim; Patterson, Doug |
| Year | 2011 |
| Conference | Geothermal Resources Council Transactions |
| Keywords | GTP; Geothermal Technologies Program; BMU; Federal Ministry for the Environment; Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; gebo; Geothermal Energy and High Performance Drilling; EGS; Enhanced Geothermal System; hot dry rock; Directional Drilling |
| Abstract | One goal of cost and risk sharing between public and private institutions is to drive growth in industry. The United States government R&D awards to private-sector companies through the Geothermal Technologies Program (GTP), and the German BMU geothermal technology research program, are both driving innovation in high-risk technology areas. These investments have the potential to enable and lower the implementation cost of conventional and enhanced geothermal systems. In addition, application knowledge is being combined with academic insights through geothermal research partnerships between universities and research organizations, supported by the public and the private sector. The “Geothermal Energy and High Performance Drilling” (gebo) research program is supported by the state of Lower Saxony in Germany. In this paper we review the progress of several ongoing projects funded under these partnerships. The GTP-funded “300°C Directional Drilling System” is in Phase 1 of a three-year program to design, build and test a prototype directional drilling system for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). The GTP-funded “300°C Geothermal Ultrasonic Fracture Imager” is developing a prototype wireline tool to enable fracture evaluation in the EGS environment. The BMU program supports the research and development of an innovative and cost-effective monobore construction concept for deep geothermal wellbore installations. The concept includes intensive research on materials, wellbore integrity technologies, and automated drilling and completion methods. The “gebo” collaborative research program is conducted by scientists and technicians from various research institutions and universities, working on 33 projects. Each project is assigned to one of four focus areas: geosystems; drilling technology, materials and technical systems. The goal of this program is to investigate and conceptualize technologies required for the development of EGS prospects in the state of Lower Saxony and elsewhere. The paper describes these geothermal research and development programs and initiatives in more detail and their role in filling technology gaps and addressing economic deficiencies that must be overcome to develop conventional geothermal and EGS on a broader scale. |