Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GeoTherm SWS (The First Truly Mobile Geothermal Drilling Rig)
Teaser
Geothermal energy remains vastly underexploited, despite being the most consistent and reliable source for low-carbon baseload energy. Geothermal drilling for resource validation is extremely costly - costs associated with drilling can account for over 50% of a total power...
Summary
Geothermal energy remains vastly underexploited, despite being the most consistent and reliable source for low-carbon baseload energy. Geothermal drilling for resource validation is extremely costly - costs associated with drilling can account for over 50% of a total power plant project cost.
Qmatec Drilling are developing a specialist geothermal drilling system, with a lightweight, highly portable rig, all additional systems and a fully optimised state of the art control system. This drilling system presents the industry with a disruptive solution to reduce exploration drilling costs by up to 70% per project, dramatically reducing the investment risks associated with geological validation of the project.
Phase 2 project objectives focus on technology optimisation, prototype development, certification, IPR protection, system testing and commercial & marketing tasks to secure project partnering and market entry success.
Work performed
Work began in 2017, focusing adapting our state of the art 1130TST rig to develop a specialist geothermal system. We have spent €700,000 to reach TRL6 and drill to 1500m on a client project. Our Phase 1 Feasibility study outputs:
Technical feasibility
Detailed road map to TRL 9 and industrialisation strategy defined
FtO Analysis
Deep FtO study, confirming FtO
Commercial Feasibility
Market analysis with pricing and key risks defined
Financial Feasibility
Revenue & cost forecasts for 5 year period, further investment requirements defined
Business Plan
Full business plan with scenario based analysis
Final results
Geotherm SWS draws on current state of the art drilling technologies and delivers them as a single integrated system. This combines a market innovation with proprietary technical innovations in the form of interchangeable drilling capability and state of the art control system. The lightweight system will reduce environmental impact of drilling as well as the upfront costs from geotechnical and infrastructure work to support exploration activities. The reduction in cost will change the investment risk for exploration activities and allow the realisation of this underexploited renewable energy resource. The beneficiaries will range from remote communities in developing countries such as Kenya to those in established economies with huge deep geothermal energy potential such as Japan. European drilling companies and operating companies have the potential to lead this market growth and provide products and services across this young international market.
Website & more info
More info: http://qmatec.org/homepage/.