Novel and cost-effective drilling technologies for geothermal systems (Graphenea)
Geo-Drill aims to reduce drilling costs through Down the hole (DTH) hammer, to advance drill monitoring through low-cost and robust 3D printed sensors and to improve component life through advanced materials and coatings.
Geothermal is currently the most underutilized of renewable resources, even though it is in principle, via engineered geothermal systems (also called enhanced geothermal systems, EGS), possible to exploit anywhere. A key issue with deep geothermal exploitation is its high cost, with 53% of the price of exploitation expended on drilling. This is especially true for deep EGS in hard rock (HDR – Hot Dry Rock), where cost increases due to increased drilling distance, increase in tripping times, harsher environments (temperature, pressure and geothermal fluid composition), reduced information (e.g. drilling blind) and time-to-information of lithology.
Now a European consortium gets together in a project to develop new drilling technologies to reduce the cost of drilling to large depths and at high temperatures. The target depth is 5 km, at temperatures of at least 250oC.
