Geothermal energy extraction using abandoned oil and gas wells:Techno‐economicand policy review

Abstract

Summary Retrofitting depleted oil wells to extract geothermal energy is considered as one of the promising proposals to extend the overall economic life of oil and gas well. For successful implementation of this initiative, a comprehensive overview covering all aspects of geothermal energy extraction from abandoned oil well should be taken into account including technical, economic considerations as well as regulations and policies of respective local governments. Unfortunately, most reported studies have been focused only on one or two aspects, primarily on technical and economic aspects. Little or no study has focused on the policy sector. Moreover, these findings have been scattered, creating difficulties to extract essential information and dragging further development of the technology. This paper is therefore prepared with the objective to provide a comprehensive overview on the geothermal energy extraction from abandoned oil well, technical challenges in its implementation, economical consideration on the conversion of the well and government policy on energy especially geothermal energy and regulation on the utilization of abandoned oil well. To achieve this objective, extensive literature reviews are conducted with more attention given to recent studies on the field. Challenges on the development of this technology are discussed from technical, economic, and policy perspectives. Based on the identified challenges, required research and development as well as necessary policies for further advancement of this technology are outlined and discussed. By providing this comprehensive information, this review paper may serve as a good foundation and guidelines on the conversion of abandoned oil wells into geothermal energy wells.

Strategy improvements to minimize the drawbacks of geothermal investments by using spherical fuzzy modelling

“…Holbein et al 55 and Lay-Ekuakille et al 56 also claimed that material quality has a crucial role in effective risk management in geothermal energy projects. Kurnia et al, 57 Gawusu et al, 58 and Jiang et al 59 also highlighted the significance of the government regulations with the aim of minimizing the risks in geothermal energy projects.…”

An integrated framework of ground source heat pump utilisation for high-performance buildings

“…Geothermal energy can be deployed in different ways depending on the ground temperature: (1) for generating electricity when the temperature is above 150 °C; (2) for direct heating applications or indirect heating and cooling using heat pumps when the temperature is lower than 150 °C 9 . Among them, the use of heat pumps, namely Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs), has increased significantly in recent decades worldwide due to their low carbon footprint and their ability to extract heat from the ground for building heating and cooling in different climatic typologies.…”

Well Placement Design for Enhancing Heat Recovery from Geothermal Systems: Sensitivity Analysis using Thermo-Poro-Elastic Effects

“…The heat can be recovered by injecting the cold water from the surface into the fractured reservoir through injectors and at the surface through turbines to produce electricity, and by injection the fluid back into the heat-depleted rock to close the loop. This method called Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) (Wight et al 2015, Veziroğlu et al 2008and Kurnia et al 2022. In order to achieve the highest efficiency from the HDR system, the rock temperature should not be less than 200 o C and the temperature of the produced fluid at the well head (producer) should be more than 180 o C. Simulation of thermal, hydrological, mechanical and chemical (THMC) process in naturally fractured geothermal reservoir is introduced for many years ago.…”