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| (Courtesy Washington Geological Survey) |
The state Department of Natural Resources plans to drill this year near Mount Baker north of Baker Lake.
Alex Steely, geothermal project manager for the agency’s Washington Geological Survey, said drilling will likely be done at the Mount Baker site in September after drilling is completed at a site near Mount St. Helens — an effort that is expected to begin this month.
Two holes will be drilled near each volcano. Each 2-inch-wide, 1,600-foot-deep hole — about the size of a water well and as deep as about two and a half Space Needles — will take about two weeks to drill.
Temperatures will be taken in the drilled holes to determine how much geothermal energy is available.
If the holes drilled this summer show geothermal energy with temperatures above 100 degrees, additional drilling, temperature testing, rock analysis and mapping would be needed to determine the size and shape of the geothermal resource before a power plant could potentially be built in the area.
From the Global Geothermal News archives:
- Thursday, March 29, 2018 - USA, Washington: Exploratory Drilling for Possible Geothermal Resources to Begin This Summer
- Tuesday, March 20, 2018 - USA, Washington: Four to Five, 1,600-Foot-Deep Wells to be Drilled in Exploring for Potential Geothermal Power Plants