WorldWide Drilling Resource

Iceland Prepares to Drill its Deepest Geothermal Well Adapted from Information by HS Orka Iceland-based HS Orka and Jardboranir have signed a contract for the drilling of a 16,400-foot, high-temperature well at the Reykjanes geothermal field. Jardboranir’s largest drilling rig, Thor will be used for the project. The well is intended to be the country’s deepest and hottest geothermal well, with tem- peratures up to 930ºF (500°C). HS Orka’s existing 8200-foot well at Reykjanes (well 15) will be deepened to around 16,400 feet later this year. The con- tract is part of the next step of the Icelandic Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) to demonstrate the possibility of harnessing deep hydrothermal high-enthalpy reservoirs to augment the cur- rent conventional geothermal fields. If the chemistry of the superheated steam can be dealt with, the well will be used directly for power production, potentially increasing the output of the Reykjanes plant. If not, the well may be used as an injection well, increasing the output of the existing shallower production wells. New technology will be introduced for the drilling, testing, and harnessing the deep well, in collaboration with domestic and international partners. The Reykjanes peninsula has been called a geothermal wonder with numerous high-temperature geothermal areas ca- pable of producing power. Currently, the Reykjanes plant, which began production more than a decade ago, produces 100 megawatts of geothermal energy. HS Orka manages the project in cooperation with Statoil in Norway and the partners inside the IDDP consortium. The IDDP project was recently awarded a research grant from the European Union research program “Horizon 2020”, and is led by HS Orka in cooperation with Isor, Landsvirkjun, Georg, Statoil, among other European companies. THE IDDP project has been ongoing the last 15 years. The consortium consists of the Icelandic power companies HS Orka, Landsvirkjun, Orkuveita Reykjavikur together with the National Energy Authority and Statoil. Photo of Thor drilling in Reykjanes peninsula courtesy of Jardboranir. 34 JUNE 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®