Tests show minimal motion effects of EGS stimulation
Well at the Newberry project site in Oregon (source: AltaRock Energy)
Francisco Rojas
3 Dec 2013
A recent article in Renewable Energy World highlights that the ground motion effects are minimal and sometimes barely noticeable in field tests at the EGS project of AltaRock Energy in Oregon.
In a recent article in Renewable Energy World, a photograph shows a seismograph record from an instrument in La Pine, Oregon, close to AltaRock Energy’s Newberry Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) demonstration, on the day of the project’s largest microseismic event on December 7, 2012.
This image compares the highest point of seismic activity in an EGS system and compares it to “the ground motion of six passing trains produced a much greater effect than the largest hydraulic stimulation event (Mw 2.4), which was not even detected by this instrument.” As it is clearly demonstrated, the impact of EGS in seismic activity is there, but not noticeable.
In the news piece, Trenton Cladouhos, Senior Vice President R&D, of AltaRock Energy “featured the graph in his November 13 presentation on geothermal technology and its evolving applications at the POWER-Gen/Renewable Energy World North America Conference and Expo in Orlando.”
Source: Renewable Energy World Website
