Sinopec drills 5200m geothermal research well in Hainan, China

Sinopec completes drilling of China’s deepest geothermal exploration well (source: Sinopec)

The China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has announced that it has completed the drilling of the Fushen-1 geothermal exploration well in Hainan, China. With a depth of 5200 meters, this is China’s deepest geothermal exploration well and is expected to provide valuable information on the potential of hot dry rock geothermal resources in South China.

Preliminary drilling data shows that temperatures of 150 °C were encountered at 3900 meters depth, further increasing to more than 180 °C at 5000 meters depth.

The goal of drilling the Fushen-1 well is to tap into a 250 million-year-old granite formation. Extensive research and testing will then be done at the the well to establish the first platform integrating research, education, and experimentation of deep geothermal in South China. The development and utilization of geothermal in China has been mainly focused on shallow and medium-deep hydrothermal resources.

Since the start of exploratory drilling in 2023, Sinopec has employed innovative technologies including dual-drive drilling and high-pressure injection to reach the temperature limit considered for hot dry rock resources. According to China’s geological surveys, the hot dry rock resources in China from 3 to 10 kilometers depth is equivalent to 856 trillion tons of standard coal. A very small fraction of these resources is needed to supply the annual energy consumption of China.

With nearly 100 million square meters of geothermal heating capacity and several regional geothermal heating projects under development, Sinopec is committed to become China’s leading enterprise in the development and utilization of geothermal energy. At the end of 2023, Sinopec reported a 15% year-on-year increase in the coverage of their geothermal heating service.

In 2023, Sinopec hosted the 7th World Geothermal Congress in Beijing with the theme “Clean Geothermal, Green Earth.” During the same event, Sinopec and Iceland-based Arctic Green Energy announced the goal of going global with their joint venture, Sinopec Green Energy.

Source: Sinopec via PR Newswire and People.cn