Production tests to start at geothermal project in St. Gallen
Drilling rig on site in St. Gallen, Switzerland (source: Webcam Project website, Aug. 7, 2013)
Alexander Richter
19 Oct 2013
The geothermal project in St. Gallen, Switzerland plans to start production tests on the drilled geothermal well at the end of October 2013, with close monitoring of potential seismicity after a gas leak and seismic incidents earlier this year.
The developers of a geothermal project in St. Gallen, Switzerland report that they have started production test for a planned geothermal power plant earlier this week.
Following a setback through a seismic event, following a sudden gas leak in the drilled well, the city council decided in the end of August to continue the project.
In the tests now, the threat of further shocks through the activities in the well drilled are taken into account with the tests now to provide information about hot water and gas in the well.
After securing the well in early October this year, a mobile gas-water test facility was built. The developer is now planning production tests at the end of October, that plan to blow nitrogen into the borehole to extract thermal water from a depth of around 4,000 meters.
After that the well is then temporarily closed, the project will dismantle the drilling rig. In the case of any “extraordinary events”, the City Council of St. Gallen can still decide on a stop for the project, as was reported in a local press conference this week.
Source: Developer report by email
