| Title | Trias Westland, Results of an Innovative Exploration Project |
|---|---|
| Authors | T.M. HOPMAN, Z. MANIAR, C.M. DE WIJKERSLOOTH |
| Year | 2020 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | West Netherlands Basin, Trassic, FMI, reservoir evaluation, business development |
| Abstract | The Westland is a greenhouse intensive area with a heat consumption equal to 800.000 households where geothermal heat is a proven, but underutilized heat source. A successful Triassic reservoir fit for geothermal energy production would open up a the path for a drilling campaign that could enhance sustainability for the total baseload of the heat demand. The “Trias Westland†project explored the Triassic at 4,2 km depth in the Westland area to the south of The Hague for geothermal heat production. The encountered Triassic sandstone reservoirs are too tight for economic production with conventional techniques. The project was designed with conventional Jurassic/Cretaceous reservoirs at approximately 2,6 km depth as a fall-back option. Estimated is that the project will be delivering heat from these reservoirs to greenhouses from mid-2019 onwards. The results of the data gathered at Triassic level will be presented in this study. An extensive dataset was gathered at reservoir level, including a cored interval and a suite of wireline logs with an FMI log. well data will be presented and placed in the bigger context of pre-drill expectations and the consequences for Triassic geothermal heat production for the Netherlands is discussed. All reservoir data is available for research requests. The road from initiation to drilling took eight years which can partly be attributed to the greenfield development aspect of the project and the organisational effort. Pre-drill estimations were not agreed to between various parties causing the Triassic part of the project not to be eligible for the government subsidy scheme (SDE+) which is vital for the economic viability of geothermal projects in the Netherlands. A Green Deal subsidy paved the way for drilling the deeper part of the well, while a cooperation style structure between investors and end-users was the foundation for the project. Although the Triassic was tested and found unsuccessful, the Trias Westland project has been a gateway to a new business model approach for geothermal projects in the Westland. A second doublet is scheduled to be drilled in the beginning of 2020, the target being Jurassic/Cretaceous reservoirs |