Drilling geothermal wells at 4,600 meters above sea level, Petreven in Chile
Petrevén drilling rig on site of the Cerro Pabellón project, Chile (source: Petrevén)
Parker O'Halloran
20 Jun 2017
Petreven H-202 Extreme drilling rig exemplifies technology that exploits geothermal energy in extreme environments.
The H-202 Extreme drilling rig managed by the Chilean branch of Petreven hosted earlier this year the CEO of Enel Green Power Francesco Venturini and an Italian delegation of the multinational world leader company of renewable energies.
The visit took place during drilling activities with the H-202 Extreme rig that was drilling then its sixth well for the first South American geothermal power plant, which now has successfully started operation, demonstrating to Chile and the entire South American continent the potential of this geothermal technology.
During the visit, the first start up of the plant was under way, using the steam at about 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees F) coming from the CP5 well (one of the best results achieved by drilling activities), insulated pipes and atmospheric separators that will bring the steam to the turbines of the plant were tested.
Thanks to the professionalism and experience gained during years of activity in the region of Magallanes in southern Chile, the H-202 Extreme and the Petreven Chile team achieved excellent results, broadly representing the timing of the client’s schedule for well drilling and guaranteeing project transparency on the economic side.
The Drillmec H-220 drilling rig is designed to work on the slopes of Mount Cerro Pabellon at an altitude of around 4,500 m above sea level and at temperatures reaching -30 degrees Celsius in the winter. The rig started working in November 2015 and has drilled 6 wells since then at depth ranging from 2,200 to 3,000 m. Hard volcanic layers and large diameters of the first drilling phases did not affect the performance of the H-202 Extreme, demonstrating how Drillmec’s hydraulic technology can work even under extreme conditions. In difficult times for the oil and gas industries, technologies from this industry can be used for exploiting geothermal resources.
Source: Petreven
