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Masdar City geothermal wells with 95 centigrade hot water

Masdar City geothermal wells with 95 centigrade hot water Masdar City Project Website, snapshot
Alexander Richter 1 Dec 2010

First results from geothermal drilling done by Icelandic Reykjavik Geothermal at the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi prove to be with 95 centigrades not hot enough for power generation, but a possibility for district cooling are evaluated.

In recent news from the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi, it is reported that first results from geothermal drilling prove to be 95 centigrades, not hot enough for power generation but currently evaluated if useable for a district cooling scheme.

“Frank Wouters, the director of Masdar Power, said exploratory wells had found “pockets” of hot water in rock formations 2.5km beneath the Masdar City development site. Masdar was assessing plans to extract the water for use in a district cooling scheme.

The temperature of the deep subterranean water was about 95°C, which Mr Wouters said was too cool for a geothermal power generation project “but hot enough for cooling”.

Masdar and its Icelandic partner, Reykjavik Geothermal, which drilled the wells, are appraising whether the water yield would be sufficient for a cooling project to be economical.

Results were expected in the second quarter next year, Mr Wouters said.

A bonus from the geothermal investigation is the collection of data on the hydrology of the region suggesting that hot-water pockets might be distributed beneath a wide swath of coastal Abu Dhabi. That could mean supplies of hot water for other district cooling projects.”

Source: The National (United Arab Emirates)