University of Oklahoma exploring geothermal heat from oil wells
Old oil well in Oklahoma (source: flickr/ OakleyOriginals, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
24 Jan 2022
Under funding by the U.S. DOE, the University of Oklahoma with partners NREL, Blue Cedar Energy and Baker Hughes aims to establish a pilot project utilising abandoned oil wells for geothermal energy production.
Among the four projects that recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wells of Opportunity program, researchers at the University of Oklahoma were awarded $1.7 million in their bid to repurpose abandoned oil and gas wells for providing geothermal energy.
With the grant, the researchers will evaluate and demonstrate the viability of utilising four hydrocarbon wells for the production of geothermal energy with the goal of heating public schools nearby.
As reported by StateImpact Oklahoma, the project’s principal investigator, Saeed Salehi, said the idea to upcycle the old wells is a cost-efficient way to use infrastructure already in place. This is done by repurpose the old wells instead of retiring and with it supply the community with energy.
The project is at a rather early stage and a proof-of-concept will have to be come up with. The project is estimated to put its operations into place in the next three years.
The vision for the project is to make Oklahoma a geothermal energy capital with the resources and wells available for the fossil fuel industry in the state.
The project will be conducted in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Blue Cedar Energy and Baker Hughes Company. More information about the project can be found here.
Source: State Impact NPR
