Sinopec’s first geothermal power demonstration project starts grid supply
Xianyang Railway Station, Xianyang, China (source: Bob Wehn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
24 Oct 2024
Sinopec has started supplying power to the grid from the company's first geothermal power generation demonstration project in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China.
The China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has announced that their first geothermal power demonstration project has obtained the access permit to start supplying power to the power grid in Xianyang City in Shaanxi Province, China. The facility is an integrated power, heat, and helium extraction plant.
The project is described as a low-temperature power generation project, drawing thermal water from a 3000-meter deep well with a wellhead temperature of about 102 °C. This is typical in the medium-low enthalpy sedimentary basin-type geothermal field of the Guanzhong region.
During the heating season, geothermal is utilized for low-load power generation, which cascades down to heating by heat exchange. When heating is not needed, the project generates electricity at full load. The combined heat and power plant is described to have a heating capacity of 170,000 square meters and an annual power generation capacity of about 700,000 kWh.
The facility also serves as a demonstration project for helium extraction. Analysis of the thermal waters in this region indicated that the helium content of most geothermal wells was exceptionally high compared to both local and international averages.
In recent years, Sinopec has continued to carry out water-soluble helium separation and purification experiments and key technology research in Xianyang City, and has successfully applied it to this project. Through membrane separation and pressure swing adsorption coupling process, helium with a purity of more than 99% has been obtained, providing valuable technical experience for the further industrialization of geothermal water-soluble helium.
Sinopec continues to deepen its geothermal field and has become the largest geothermal energy development and utilization company in China. Although China is currently the world leader in geothermal heating capacity, its geothermal power generation sector is still at the development stage. As of the end of 2022, the geothermal power generation of China is at 53.45 MW.
Source: China Daily and QQ
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