Geothermal Innovations, Part 1: Redesigning Reservoir Design from the Subsurface Up

By Leslie Blodgett, GEA
October 23, 2012   

Industry innovations are promising, but high risk and drilling costs mean geothermal needs federal funding programs to expand.

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Large-scale projects for the production of geothermal energy begin, essentially, with a detailed study of rocks. As AltaRock Energy's President/Chief Technology Officer Susan Petty told GEA by email, technology improvements "are no substitute for a thorough understanding of geology." The process of gathering and analyzing data on geologic layers of Earth is a complicated dance buoyed in recent years by a focus on innovative research and development from industry experts and aided in part by federal incentives and loans.

A distinguishing characteristic of exploring a geothermal system is that it requires drilling.  “Drilling is the only definitive method available to identify and delineate heat, permeability, and fluid supply,” according to the prepared presentation by AltaRock Energy for the National Geothermal Summit, a Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) event in Sacramento this past August. Joe Lovenitti, VP of resource, contributed to a panel of drilling innovation experts.
Representatives from AltaRock were also at the event in another capacity; the geothermal industry presented their company a GEA Honors Special Recognition award for the renewable energy company’s efforts in commercialization of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology for power generation.  The project, located outside Oregon’s Newberry National Volcanic Monument, targets improvements in stimulation methods that could benefit the entire geothermal industry.