CGER Geothermal Energy Conference GeoEnergy 21

September 1.-2. Online conference.

The impact and awareness of geothermal as a renewal heat and electric power resource is growing globally. According to the 2019 EGEC geothermal market report, geothermal development has had a lower growth than expected for the last decade, due to both legislative, technological, and business challenges, but the EGEC president Miklos Antics expects the current decade to be the geothermal decade. CGER is also now experiencing an increasing number of requests for information on geothermal activities and potential in Norway.

Traditional geothermal heat pumps and geothermal heat storage will remain central in Norwegian exploitation, but new markets are now being investigated, such as geothermal electricity production on Svalbard, deep sea, and through exploitation of oil and gas infrastructure on the continental shelf. Learnings from Sweden, currently taking the lead in Europe in the geothermal heat pump sector, and building on competency in geothermal electricity production in Iceland and Finland, will be key to assessing and exploiting potential in these areas in Norway. International collaboration, through such programs as Horizon Europe and ERA, will also further development in Norway. The ongoing revision of the Energy21 strategy under the Norwegian Oil and Energy ministry will determine policy on renewable energy, and therefore be central to geothermal research and innovation in Norway moving ahead.

This year's conference will focus on creating a better understanding of how geothermal fits into the Norwegian energy budget and economy, thereby contributing to a sustainable development of geothermal as a renewable energy resource in Norway, through a national effort and through collaboration with expertise and knowhow internationally. Virtual networking will be facilitated in the breaks, enabling follow up of talks, following up with existing contacts and establishing new ones. We aim to do our utmost to make this a relevant and rewarding conference despite the current covid19 situation. 

Registration information

We will shortly be opening up for registration for conference attendance. Registration information will be posted here.  

Keynotes

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN NORWAY AS A LOW EMISSION SOCIETY - STRATEGY AND NEEDS

Wednesday September 1st, 0910-0940

STATUS ON GEOTHERMAL EXPLOITATION AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES IN NORWAY

Thursday September 2nd, 0910-0940

Thor Erik Musæus, Geothermal Energy Nordic AS

The potential for geothermal exploitation in Norway is huge and under-communicated. Heating and hot water represents an important part of Norway's total energy consumption. Energy from the crust of the earth will play a key role in reducing our climate footprint.

Technical sessions

SESSION 1. POWER PRODUCTION

Wednesday September 1. 0940 - 1110

Session 1 will focus on geothermal electricity production, covering both process and technology for high temperature geothermal wells. The session contents reflect strong collaboration between Norway and Iceland in this area. Building on technology and knowhow from oil and gas operations is an important key to such collaboration, with further potential application in hotspots across Europe and beyond. 

Session chairs: Sæunn Halldorsdottir, UiB

Geothermal power production on Iceland - state of the art and remaining challenges

Árni Magnússon, ISOR

Technology development for sustainable exploitation of geothermal energy from high temperature wells

Sturla Sæther, Equinor, Hieu-Nguyen Hoang, SINTEF

For sustainable exploitation of geothermal energy, robust and cost-efficient casing systems are an absolute requirement. However, the harsh operation conditions encountered in the high-temperature (HT) geothermal reservoirs are very challenging and are detrimental for the well integrity. Improper materials selection and design principles may lead to serious failure events, and loss of the production well, as reported in many HT geothermal well projects. In order to solve the current challenges, a novel design tool, Casinteg, was developed in the HotCaSe project for efficient global well analyses. The developed tool aims to provide a better understanding of the influence of the high temperature operation conditions on the well integrity and to bridge the knowledge gap in the current design standard codes. The tool is currently used to evaluate robust well design solutions for the planned IDDP3 well where the operation condition up to 450⁰C can be expected.

Silica solubility in deep geothermal wells

Morten Tjelta, IFE

Silica scaling is an important issue in deep geothermal energy wells and knowledge about solubility is important for scaling prediction and mitigation strategies. However, there is limited data available at high temperatures in the presence of salt. This work describes an experimental setup developed to study solubility at high pressures and temperatures (up to 500 °C and 350 bar). Benchmark experiments show quartz solubility values in agreement with literature data.

Simulations and analysis of induced seismicity for a hydraulic stimulation test at the Reykjanes geothermal field, Iceland

Eirik Keilegavlen, UiB

The ERiS project was a joint project of the University of Bergen and NORSAR with collaboration with Equinor and international partners, with central partners in Iceland. The project aimed at improved understanding of low-pressure stimulation of enhanced geothermal systems. To that end the project undertook an interdisciplinary study of a stimulation experiment in the Reykjanes geothermal field in Iceland. The aim of the study was to construct a numerical simulation model based on state-of-the-art numerical tools and compare simulation results with seismic observations of induced events.

We present the workflow used to combine local and regional geological data, seismic observations and information gained from the construction and initial operation of the injection well. The resulting simulation model incorporates fluid flow, deformation of the host rock and sliding of the main faults in the reservoir. The availability of such a simulation model allowed for experimentation with scenarios for fluid flow parameters. The presentation will emphasize the critical role of integrating data from different sources, as well as challenges and opportunities relating to interdisciplinary work.

SESSION 2. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Wednesday September 1. 1200-1330

Session 2 will focus on international collaboration within geothermal, providing an overview of possibilities for both industry and research collaboration with Europe and beyond, also covering development cases. Such collaboration and the related competency building are important for strengthening efforts in Norway. The session will also focus on how the benefits of geothermal development can be strengthened through combination with other green technology development, such as carbon capture and storage.  

Session chairs: Fionn Iversen, NORCE

DEEPEN - a GEOTHERMICA project

Carsten Sørlie, Equinor

GEOTHERMICA (www.geothermica.eu) brings together owners of European and US national geothermal research and innovation programs. GEOTHERMICA's objective is to promote research and innovation in geothermal energy to make geothermal energy reliable, safe, and cost-competitive. GEOTHERMICA combines the financial resources and know-how of 20 geothermal energy research and innovation program owners and managers from 16 countries and their regions. The DEEPEN project is one of 7 projects receiving funding under the 2nd call from GEOTHERMICA. The focus for the DEEPEN project is the high resource risk and high upstream exploration costs as key barriers to scaling up geothermal energy development globally. Reducing the upstream risk has, for a long time, been a priority area of the sector on several fronts. The DEEPEN project aims to contribute to this goal by increasing the probability of success when drilling for geothermal fluids in magmatic systems. This will be achieved by developing improved exploration methods and an improved framework for the joint interpretation of exploration data using the Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) methodology. The Norwegian contribution to DEEPEN by Equinor and NORSAS is funded by the Research Council of Norway. The presentation will provide an introduction to GEOTHERMICA as an arena for collaborative research and innovation and an overview of the DEEPEN project.

Lower emissions from geothermal power generation by capturing them for either reuse or storage, GECO H2020 project

Bergur Sigfússon, Reykjavik Energy/Carbfix 

SEE4GEO Geothermica project

Kirsti Midttømme and Walter Wheeler, NORCE

Being able to identify water-filled fracture networks is essential for the design and operation of open geothermal systems. Traditional seismic imaging techniques fail to resolve fluid-phase properties at the scale required for targeted drilling, while purely electromagnetic approaches typically provide limited, low-resolution constraints on the rock structure. The goal in the Geothermica SEE4GEO project is to assess the use of seismoelectric effects (SEE), which arise from seismic-to-electromagnetic conversion in naturally charged porous media with a certain degree of fluid saturation.

"Innovation in Underground Thermal Energy Storages with Borehole Heat Exchangers - BHEsINNO" (EEA Poland/Norway grant)

Mohsen Assadi, UiS

Geothermal energy and heat storage underground have potential to impact energy transition towards carbon restricted energy solutions considerably. The main goal of the BHEsINNO project is to establish international collaboration and knowledge transfer to utilize synergies between the project partners and deliver excellent outcome quality.

SESSION 3. IMPROVING COST EFFICIENCY AND ACHIEVEING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

Thursday September 2. 0940-1110

Success in geothermal development projects requires stakeholder management, reliability and efficiency in well construction, and accounting for regional potential and challenges. Collaborating with and learning from development in neighbouring countries is a key part of this process. Learnings from projects and development in Denmark are presented together with ongoing technology development for improving drilling and well completion efficiency, complemented by a concept study for geothermal development on Svalbard.

 Session chairs: Jan Atle Andresen, Huisman and Torbjørn Vrålstad, SINTEF

Geoop - Bringing execution to ideas and realising geothermal projects

Lars Andersen, GEOOP

We are driving geothermal energy forward. The path to successful projects is narrow and has its share of barriers. We have masterminded the hashtag #500MWin2030 which we use to guide us in dealing with all of the stakeholders influencing projects. We will share our views and our findings on how to develop successful geothermal projects. 

Technology for Competitive GeoExchanged Energy

Per A. Vatne, Hammergy

Hammergy's core mission is to develop a new downhole percussion hammer with a higher frequency, more Joule on rock and a compact system that is significantly more efficient than the present drilling technology. The main guiding principle in this technology is that the flow path is direct through the downhole hammer and acts on the hammer element unidirectional instead of the current method of using the flow to push the hammer bi-directional. The downhole percussion hammer will be accompanied by a traction unit that in unison will allow for the use of lightweight, high strength reeled composite tubing instead of threaded pipes. The whole system is intended to be powered downhole by water, which either can be generator-driven or connected to main power lines.

The development has been a continuous improvement over the last few years, involving developments such as material selections, starting solutions, flow efficiency etc.

The goal is to showcase the technology by a working 1:1 lab version of the hammer this year after several years of development.

Contributors in technology development have been GeothermieZentrum Bochum eV, NTNU, SINTEF, NORCE and NAMMO.

New Applications for Geothermal Developments

Arne Voskamp, Huisman

In September 2021, a new test well will be drilled at the Rijswijk Center for Sustainable Geo-energy, a test facility for geothermal developments, using a newly developed Enhanced-Casing Drilling system with a unique, relatively simple, full-mechanical (automation-ready) Rotary Steerable System. Composite casing will be installed in the completed well, allowing for new (logging) data evaluations and a composite section in the BHA is used as a see-through window for (EM-)MWD data communications.

During the real environment drilling test, a camera system will be deployed that acquires data that can be used for both formation evaluation and drilling optimization. This digital mud logging system takes full advantage of the digital age, acquiring massive amounts of data, optimally being used for enhanced, safer, and faster drilling of the wells of the future.

In the presentation, the application of the above-mentioned technologies will be discussed as well as the integration of those at the test center and applicability to geothermal environments.

Deep geothermal energy in Svalbard

Malte Jochmann, Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS

Subsurface temperatures in Svalbard are high compared to mainland Norway, with measured geothermal gradients of 25 to 55 K per km. Longyearbyen is among the places in Svalbard with the highest measured gradients. In our talk we will present the status of an ongoing project targeting the geothermal heat supply of a school building in Longyearbyen, based on a DBHE (Deep Borehole Heat Exchanger) with a depth between 1000 and 2000 m. The concept study is conducted by Store Norske, GTML, and UNIS. We will present our plans to meet the challenges related to subsurface geology and permafrost, and present our vision for future geothermal energy supply in Svalbard.

SESSION 4. HEAT STORAGE AND ENERGY SYSTEMS

Thursday September 2. 1200-1330

An energy systems approach is applicable for geothermal development in Norway as a whole, combining geothermal heat with other renewable energy sources. This session covers energy systems including ground heat storage, energy systems for societal infrastructure, and case examples. The technical presentations are complemented by national strategy.  

Session chairs: Christian von der Ohe, GCE NODE

National strategy - Energi21

Lene Mostue, Energi 21

Wesselkvartalet - open well hybrid geo-energy system

Robbert van de Ven, Ruden

Wesselkvartalet in Asker is unique by providing geo-energy and storage with open groundwater wells in bedrock. The project utilizes 18 deep groundwater wells up to 400 meter in depth and 98 shallow wells to store that energy for peak loads. Combined with this unique approach is a detailed study into the geology of Wesselkvartalet performed to optimize the geo-energy system.

Pilot-project for de-icing with deep energy wells, Oslo Airport.

Thilo Theloy, GTML

A summary of the project, its findings, and the potential for direct use of heat from deep energy wells in different applications.

Borehole Thermal Energy Storage systems - a key solution for sustainable energy in polar regions?

Rasmus Bøckman

Renewable energy from wind and solar systems has in recent years developed into the cheapest source of energy. The obvious challenge with these sources, especially in small grid systems, are the periods where production and consumption does not correlate. In colder regions heating is often the main component of the energy consumption and by solving the "bridging problem" with a BTES (Borehole Thermal Energy Storage) system it is possible to increase the portion of renewable energy in the system. "

Program committee

  • Fionn Iversen, NORCE. Program Chair
  • Ranveig Nygaard Bjørk, NORCE
  • Sæunn Halldorsdottir, UiB
  • Jan Atle Andresen, Huismann
  • Christian von der Ohe, GCE NODE
  • Torbjørn Vrålstad, SINTEF

Contact: post@cger.no