Wells2Watts completes test well for closed-loop geothermal - ThinkGeoEnergy - Geothermal Energy News
Wells2Watts completes test well for closed-loop geothermal
The Wells2Watts consortium headed by Baker Hughes has completed the test well to evaluate retrofitting of existing wells for geothermal energy production.
Baker Hughes has announced the completion of the test well for the geothermal energy consortium Wells2Watts. The geothermal test well, commissioned during a ceremony with partners and government officials present, is now ready to simulate geothermal flow testing to accelerate technology development and commercially scale geothermal as a baseload energy supply.
The test well, located in the Baker Hughes Energy Innovation Center at the Hamm Institute for American Energy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was refurbished in 2023 with the support of Wells2Watts’ consortium partners and technology providers. It will simulate relevant geothermal subsurface environments to test the closed-loop system for several well configurations, validate engineering performance models, and offer scale for field pilot efforts.
Initial testing includes GreenFire Energy’s technology, GreenFire’s GreenLoop™, and ICE Thermal Harvesting’s heat-to-power system that uses Organic Rankine Cycle technology as an input.
“Collaborating with other organizations, investing in research and development, and partnering with startups are all critical to making geothermal energy more accessible and affordable,” said Maria Claudia Borras, executive vice president of Oilfield Services and Equipment at Baker Hughes. “The completion of the Wells2Watts geothermal test well is a momentous step in our commitment to delivering new sources of energy to meet the world’s increasing demand.”
Alongside several state and federal government officials in Oklahoma City at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, the consortium’s industry partners also welcomed new member California Resources Corporation (CRC), an independent energy and carbon management company committed to energy transition.
“CRC is excited to join the Wells2Watts geothermal energy consortium, and we look forward to collaborating with its members to accelerate technology development and expand geothermal energy in California,” said Francisco Leon, president and chief executive officer of California Resources Corporation. “California has ambitious climate goals, and CRC is committed to providing the state with real solutions to help meet its decarbonization targets and a sustainable, reliable and affordable energy supply.”
The next steps for the consortium this year include identifying a pilot location so that learnings from the test well can be tested in 2024. The pilot project will supply field learnings and help understand scalability through existing oil and gas infrastructure. Future testing could also include advances in the system and testing new working fluids in the well such as supercritical CO2 (sCO2).
Launched in December 2022, the Wells2Watts geothermal consortium focuses on how technology can retrofit a well at the end of its productive life for geothermal energy and renewable electricity production. Largely funded by its industry partners, which in addition to CRC includes Continental Resources, INPEX CORPORATION, and Chesapeake Energy Corporation, the consortium also receives support from technology providers through in-kind materials and labor contributions for construction, testing and piloting purposes. Those providers include Vallourec, GreenFire Energy and ICE Thermal Harvesting.
Baker Hughes has been a leader in geothermal energy development for over 40 years, bringing reliable heat and power production to over 25 different countries. Wells2Watts will initially focus on closed loop projects with the intent to look at other technologies important to scaling geothermal in regions where geothermal isn’t developed today. The consortium was formed in November 2022 and is part of a collaboration between Baker Hughes’ existing Oilfield Services and Equipment New Energy and Carbon Management business and the Baker Hughes Energy Innovation Center.
Source: Baker Hughes
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.