Drilling in Lavbey-les-Bains, Swiss scheduled for Nov. 2021
Project site at Lavey-les-Bains, Switzerland (source: AGEPP/ Régis Colombo/ www.diapo.ch)
Alexander Richter
23 Aug 2021
The drilling pad for the Lavey-les-Bains geothermal project in Switzerland is being set up with expected drilling start in November 2021.
Geothermal energy developing is clearly kicking off in Switzerland. Now the deep geothermal project in Lavey-les-Bains (VD) is moving ahead with the drilling platform currently under development. The drilling rig tower of more than 30 meters will be installed in mid-November.
From November, a ballet of 60 trucks will be activated on the right bank of the Rhône to concrete and equip the drilling platform, Jean-François Pilet, director of Alpine, told Keystone-ATS. Geothermal Power Production (AGEEP), a company resulting from a public-private partnership. It is located near one of the three already existing wells which supply the geothermal baths of Bains de Lavey.
On the 5,000 m2 space, clearing work has already taken place from April 9. We had to level the ground and bring in some seriousness to stabilize it, he says.
Special works were also carried out there, such as the laying of eleven piles ten meters deep. They will stabilize the concrete part that will receive the drilling rig, whose height will reach 30 to 35 meters. A 98-tonne nine-axle truck will be needed to transport the rig in early November. It will be able to pull up to 300 tonnes of drilling tools from the depths.
Six months of drilling
After this preparatory work, it’s time for the actual drilling from mid-November. In a first phase, the rock will be dug up to 2300 meters. If the objectives set – finding water at 110 degrees with a flow rate of 40 liters / second – are not achieved, the well will be extended up to 3000 meters.
Drilling will be completed by summer 2022, including testing. If the results are positive, then the building that will transform heat into electricity can be built, says Pilet.
Reptile facilities
Everything else will be rehabilitated, including reptile facilities, says Pilet. About fifteen of them were indeed caught and moved before the start of the work.
Also from mid-November, a visitor center will be set up on the edge of the site. Guided tours will be organized and free access, outside the works enclosure, will provide an overview.
This pilot project, the most advanced at Swiss level, should make it possible to produce electricity for around 900 households thanks to the small power station which will operate in a closed circuit.
The hot water at the outlet of this plant will initially supply the Bains de Lavey with heat and then have other uses such as district heating. Horticultural greenhouses or fish farming for perch farming could be considered.
Under close surveillance
And Mr Pilet recalled that the technical and geological conditions are radically different from the geothermal projects in Basel and St. Gallen which had caused an earthquake. There will be no hydraulic fracturing.
Only one well – a singlet – will be drilled. It is not a closed circuit, there will be no reinjection; only water will be drawn off, he explains. Such drilling is commonplace in Paris and Munich, he recalled.
Everything will be under close surveillance. The Swiss Seismological Service set up a seismicity monitoring network in 2018. An additional network will also make it possible to differentiate natural seismicity from that induced by drilling.
The budget amounts to CHF 40 million (around USD 43.6 million). The Confederation, via the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), is supporting the project with a contribution of CHF17 million. Just as the State of Vaud supports which granted a subsidy of some CHF 1.5 million.
Noville is also advancing
In the canton of Vaud, other projects are underway to harness this clean and renewable energy. In Noville, the change in affection of the well, drilled ten years ago under Lake Geneva at the time to search for hydrocarbons, was investigated by the canton of Vaud.
“We asked to have the site for geothermal operation. We were the only ones and the canton gave its authorization ”, indicated Philippe Petitpierre, president of the Vevey company Petrosvibri.
During the drilling in which CHF 36 million were invested, the Vevey company has already collected information related to the temperature of the ground and identified the existence of a geothermal potential, he added.
Now it’s time for the technical feasibility file. Once the project is sized, a link will be made with the municipality of Noville to examine the possibilities of district heating. The actual work is not planned before 2022.
Vinzel next year too
Finally in Vinzel, medium-depth drilling is planned for 2022. Also on the lake shore, three vibrator trucks will soon complete a prospecting campaign in search of geothermal reservoirs.
Source: BlueWin
