Geothermal well taps 80 °C water at Sidirokastro, Greece

Well testing at the Sidirokastro geothermal field in Serres, Greece (source: HSGME)

Testing of a large-diameter geothermal research borehole Sd17PN in the Sidirokastro geothermal field in Serres, Greece has indicated temperatures of around 78 °C from a depth of 153.8 meters. This represents the highest temperature recorded in the low-enthalpy geothermal fields in the Prefecture of Serres.

The drilling and testing of the geothermal research well in Sidirokastro was made possible by the Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration (HSGME), m0re specifically Drs. Apostolos Arvanitis – Head of Geothermal and Thermal Natural Resources Department (GEOTHE), Vasileio Zorapa – Head of Hydrogeology and Hydrology Department (HYDROGE), Panagiotis Vakalopoulos – Geologist of GEOTHE Department and Vasileio Maramatha – Project Manager of HYDROGE Department.

The borehole was drilled to a total depth of 153.80 meters, tapping a resource with a hydrostatic level of 91.85 meters. The well had an internal diameter of 8 inches at depth. A special underwater pump assembly with maximum 40 hp and temperature resistance up to 90 °C was used and set at 109.2 meters depth.

During testing, a stable supply was achieved at a flowrate of 75 cubic meters per hour. Recover of the hydrostatic level was fairly quick at only 22 seconds after a drop of 2.10 meters. Temperature was stable during flow testing within a range of 78.0 to 78.2 °C and measured pH was stable at 6.63.

The team estimates that the resource can support a stable flowrate of at least 120 cubic meters per hour with a larger-diameter borehole.

The very encouraging results of the test pumping reinforced the interesting utilization of geothermal energy in general in the County of Serres and was a subject of discussion for further utilization in the meetings held by the EAGME with local government bodies and services.

The HSGME had previously published a paper that establishes management standards for low-enthalpy geothermal fields in Greece, in order to achieve the rational and sustainable utilization of the low-enthalpy resources.

Mining and test pumping of large-diameter geothermal research borehole took place within the framework of the Sub-project “ACTIONS FOR THE ORTHOLOGICAL AND SUSTAINABLE VALUATION OF GEOTHERM” of the Act: “Studies and research to support the energy sector of industry and entrepreneurship – OPYGEK”, executed by the Department of GEOTH of EAGME and funded by the Business Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, Innovation” – EPANEK.

Source: EAGME via Facebook