Open AccessSt1 Deep Heat Project: Geothermal energy to the district heating network in Espoo
Author(s) -
Ilmo Kukkonen,
M Pentti
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/703/1/012035
Subject(s) - geothermal gradient , drilling , geothermal energy , geology , mining engineering , petroleum engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering , geophysics
St1 Deep Heat Project with its two deep wells extending to 6.2 - 6.4 km depth is the world’s deepest industrial geothermal energy project. The aim is to build an EGS (enhanced geothermal system) at the depth of about 5 - 6 km. The project is a pilot aiming at exploring the technical and economic feasibility of geothermal energy in the crystalline rock conditions of Finland for production of thermal power to a district heating network. Due to the demands of the district heating, the aim is to produce hot fluid at about 100°C and re-inject it to the formation at 50°C. The 100°C goal requires to drill to about 6 km depth. The drill site is located in Espoo, next to the Fortum district heating plant on the Aalto University campus. So far (2020) the project has drilled a 2 km deep completely cored pilot hole (OTN-1), and two deep wells OTN-2 to 6.2 km and OTN-3 to 6.4 km. Hydraulic conductivity has been enhanced by hydraulic stimulation in both deep wells in 2018 and 2020. The extreme depth level sets significant challenges for drilling and hydraulic stimulation, as well as controlling of induced seismicity. At present, the project proceeds with the installation of production pumps in OTN-2 and OTN-3, and first test cross-hole pumpings are expected to start in January 2021. In the presentation we provide an insight to the project and its major achievements and challenges.