News

Drilling of first well reaches target depth in Montserrat

Drilling of first well reaches target depth in Montserrat Ron Beardsley, Government of Montserrat's Director of Infrastructure signalling the start of the drilling programme (source: Montserrat Government)
Alexander Richter 17 May 2013

The first well drilled for the geothermal project on Montserrat in the Caribbean has reached the target depth of 2,300 meters and will now see flow testing. Preparation for the drilling of a second well are underway.

Reported this morning, the drilling work on Montserrat in the Caribbean has reached its target depth.

After about four weeks, the project team will test the wells to estimate the output of the well for and explore the potential plant options available to the project.

The well has reached a depth of about 2,300 meters and “is fully secured”, so Ron Beardsley, director of Montserrat’s Public Works Department. “All the time that drilling was taking place we have been pumping cold water down the well to keep things cool and stable.”

Initial measurements from the well are “encouraging,” he said, but it will take four weeks for temperatures to stabilize.

“It will be on completion of these flow tests when we can estimate the capacity of the well to generate geothermal energy,” he said.

Iceland Drilling Company has been the drilling contractor for the project and will start work on a second well soon.

Source: Caribbean Journal