Hot Dry Rock Project
Australian company Geodynamics Ltd. has completed drilling on the first commercial attempt to create a commercial geothermal power plant using hot dry rock technology. Total depth of the production well is 13,850 feet.
Hot dry rock technology was invented to draw energy from deep underground areas where geothermal heat is abundant, but no water exists to carry the heat to the surface. To tap the energy in this hot dry rock, a well is drilled into it, and water is injected at high pressure, forming fissures in the rock to create a geothermal reservoir consisting of water-impregnated fractured rock. At least one production well then is drilled into the reservoir to draw the hot water back to the surface. The completed facility will direct the hot fluid from the production well to a power plant, which would extract the heat from it to produce power, after which the cooled fluid would be injected back into the ground.
Hot dry rock technology was invented to draw energy from deep underground areas where geothermal heat is abundant, but no water exists to carry the heat to the surface. To tap the energy in this hot dry rock, a well is drilled into it, and water is injected at high pressure, forming fissures in the rock to create a geothermal reservoir consisting of water-impregnated fractured rock. At least one production well then is drilled into the reservoir to draw the hot water back to the surface. The completed facility will direct the hot fluid from the production well to a power plant, which would extract the heat from it to produce power, after which the cooled fluid would be injected back into the ground.
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