Chinese group updates on geothermal development efforts in Tibet
Road from Lhasa to Shigatse, Tibet (source: flickr/ So_P, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
26 Nov 2018
China-based Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group Ltd. announces having secured the exploration rights to the Kawu geothermal field in Tibet. The field has an expected geothermal power generation potential of up to 80 MW.
In a voluntary update to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group Ltd., provides details on its geothermal energy business.
The Company, upon entering into of the geothermal energy cooperative framework agreements with certain government authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 2017, formed professional teams covering areas including geology, geophysics, geochemistry, drilling, thermal power and electricity, established cooperative relationship with the University of Utah, the United States and certain professional institutions, and conducted preliminary resource exploration and confirmation on certain geothermal energy resources in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the PRC under the leadership of several experts and academics.
During the course of relevant works, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company acquired the new exploration right of the geothermal field (the “Kawu Geothermal Field”) in Kawu, Sa’gya County, Shigatse City, the Tibet Autonomous Region, the PRC on 13 November 2018 for the consideration in the amount of approximately RMB7.7 million (USD1.1 million) through securing a public tender offered by the Department of Land and Resources of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the PRC.
The exploration right of the Kawu Geothermal Field covers an area of approximately 105 square kilometres. The surface water temperature in the boiling spring area ranges from approximately 62°C to 86°C and there are more than 100 springs surrounding by rich sulphur, salt frost and large travertine. Based on the geological structure and geochemistry preliminary analysis, it is estimated that the geothermal pay zone of the Kawu Geothermal Field might be at depth from 1,500 to 2,000 metres with possible temperature ranges from approximately 170°C to 240°C. The field has the characteristics of shallow burial depth of geothermal energy resource and abundant groundwater, which are supportive for the geothermal fluids collection, and is one of the developing regions with the best geothermal energy resource potential in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the PRC.
According to the “Validation Survey Report of the Proposed New Geothermal Energy Exploration Right in Kawu, Sa’gya County, the Tibet Autonomous Region” dated 10 September 2018 prepared by the Bureau of Geologic Exploration and Mineral Development of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the PRC, the Kawu Geothermal Field has an estimated power generation potential of up to approximately 80 MW, representing a larger scale potential geothermal energy development project in the PRC.
The Company will continue to conduct in-depth researches, organise various exploration activities and facilitate the tasks necessary for the development of the project in due course, including the acquisition of relevant resource exploitation right and the utilisation of geothermal energy on areas such as power generation and heat supply, when the project is profitable and when the relevant clean energy resource can be effectively utilised. The Company will publish other announcements in this regard in due course in accordance with the requirements of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
Source: Company Release
