Agreement on repurposing wells for geothermal in UK
IGas well at Gainsborough, UK (source: IGas)
Alexander Richter
16 Sep 2021
CeraPhi Energy and IGas sign heads of terms agreement on repurposing oil and gas wells in the UK with proprietary closed-loop technology to extract geothermal energy.
In a statement on its LinkedIn page, UK-based geothermal development company CeraPhi Energy announced an agreement on Heads of Terms (HoT) with IGas Energy the largest operator of onshore oil and gas wells in the UK to repurpose wells using its proprietary technology.
The first project will be sited in the Lincoln area on one of IGas’s existing sites. The development will capitalise on IGas’s deep local knowledge, surface infrastructure and existing wells and CeraPhi’s proprietary technology, CeraPhiWell, a closed loop downhole heat exchanger to repurpose existing onshore assets with no drilling to produce clean baseload geothermal energy.
This pathfinder project will be used to demonstrate the commercial potential for geothermal energy production from repurposing existing oil and gas assets for direct heat for agriculture, residential heating and cooling, and the development of hybrid energy systems generating both heat and power.
“The signing of the agreement with CeraPhi is another important step in IGas’s drive to diversify its operations, adding to the ongoing work on hydrogen production and carbon storage and bolstering our established geothermal offering.
As local authorities and other large-scale users of heat transition away from fossil fuels we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries looking to geothermal as a solution and through this growing pipeline of development opportunities, IGas is well-positioned to deliver a solution to the long-term decarbonisation for heat in the UK.”, so Stephen Bowler, CEO of IGas.
Karl Farrow, CeraPhi Energy, CEO said: “The repurposing of oil and gas wells to access subsurface thermal heat to produce baseload clean energy has to become a primary step to developing a wider appreciation of what geothermal can provide us. This agreement with IGas is yet another demonstration of the energy transition harnessing existing skills and expertise that we have in the UK to support a net zero 2050 target.”
Source: Company announcement via LinkedIn, release by IGas
