The first deep geothermal test well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山) has confirmed a high-potential site after temperatures of nearly 150°C were recorded at a depth of nearly 4km, Academia Sinica said yesterday.
Academia Sinica and state-owned energy company CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) began drilling the well in October last year. An integrated geological and thermal analysis was conducted in August after drilling concluded.
Initial findings showed an upwelling source of heat beneath the northern Yilan Plain, indicating great development potential, Academia Sinica said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of Academia Sinica
Taiwan has many hot springs and fumaroles, which indicate potential geothermal energy sources. Experts say that Taiwan has geothermal power generation potential of 25 gigawatts to 32 gigawatts, enough to provide a sizeable chunk of the country’s power.
However, the nation has not had a breakthrough in developing geothermal energy for decades. Its first geothermal power plant was founded in 1981, but operations were suspended in 1993 because of inefficient power generation.
A new facility was opened in Yilan County’s Datong Township (大同) in 2023, but that provided only 0.003 percent of electricity generated in Taiwan in the first 10 months of this year, Energy Administration data showed.
Even the latest site initially caused some anxiety.
Lee Jian-cheng (李建成), who leads Taiwan’s national geothermal research program and is a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Earth Sciences, said that the team became concerned when temperatures were below 100°C at about 3km deep.
However, the mercury rose rapidly beyond 3.5km into the bore — by about 90°C per kilometer — reaching about 150°C at the bottom, Lee said.
The data suggest that the site is close to a zone of high temperatures suitable for geothermal energy development at depths as shallow as 3km, he said.
For geothermal power generation to be economically viable, the temperature of hot water or steam at the wellhead needs to be at least 120°C, with higher temperatures and greater flow rates offering better efficiency, Ministry of Economic Affairs standards say.
Drilling data at the test site indicate that the geological formations at the site are suitable for a hydraulic stimulation method that improves hot-water flow paths and supports geothermal extraction while lowering induced seismic risks, Academia Sinica said.
Chen Yue-gau (陳于高), executive secretary of Academia Sinica’s Center for Sustainability Science, said international experience shows that three to five test wells are usually needed to develop a geothermal field.
The results from the Yuanshan well support further drilling to map the geothermal system’s 3D structure and guide engineering design, Chen said.
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