| Title | Measuring the Success of EGS Projects: an Historical to Present Day Perspective |
|---|---|
| Authors | Catherine E. Stafford |
| Year | 2010 |
| Conference | Australian Geothermal Energy Conference |
| Keywords | Enhanced geothermal system, EGS, hot dry rock, HDR, success, industry, Hot Rock |
| Abstract | World wide, Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) projects have been around for over 35 years, commencing with the Fenton Hill research and development project in New Mexico back in 1972. Many years of knowledge have been accumulated through various research and commercial projects. As to be expected with an evolving industry, some significant development issues are still to be fully or properly overcome, such as appropriate down-well technologies and management of induced seismicity. However, several factors indicate that this ‘new’ type of geothermal technology and its associated industry has moved beyond being just a research and development concept. Such factors include: the growth in the number of commercial projects, with some of these now in production; cementing of the industry through associations and government incentives; the development of geothermal reporting codes for commercial credibility (i.e. Australian and Canadian); and considerable progress in the resolution of ongoing development issues. This paper provides a perspective on the success of EGS projects to date. This is very much a first-pass assessment as the technical and commercial data publicly available is currently too sparse and project specific to enable a rigorous quantitative study at this stage. However, it is intended to offer a snapshot take on the success and evolution to date of the EGS sector of the geothermal industry. It reveals that many projects have been successful at what they set out to achieve. It is also apparent that EGS development in Australia is likely to be more ‘successful’ than elsewhere because the continent’s stress regime allows favourable sub-horizontal fracture development. |