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Geo-Energie Suisse to apply for test drilling this year

Geo-Energie Suisse to apply for test drilling this year Berner Oberland, Switzerland (source: flickr/ petr cervinka, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 27 Jun 2012

Swiss developing company Geo-Energie Suisse AG, a JV of various Swiss utilities, is expected to apply for tests of a new drilling process already later this year.

Reported via the German Geothermal Association, Geo-Energie Suisse AG, a joint venture of various Swiss energy producers, is pushing for a utilization of deep geothermal in Switzerland.

The president of the company, also CEO of the JV partner EWB, says it will use the multi-fracture procedure. Generally it is common to drill only vertically, but in this procedure one will also drill horizontally for about one kilometer.

Engineers will then place 40 small fractures along side the horizontal well drilled. Therefore the overall fracture region remains of the same size to conventional fracturing, but decreases the possibility of induced seismicity further.

It is expected that already this year, three project sites will see the start of an approval process for test drilling on sites in Switzerland. The goal is to at least drill one test well for the procedure from 2014 with a potential of geothermal power being generated in the 2020s. As possible project sites are seen only Mittelland and the Jura, based on their kristalline geology.

Soure: German Geothermal Association (in German) via BZ Berner Zeitung