The Commercial Requirements for an HDR Reservoir Supplying a Double Flash Power Plant

Abstract

Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal systems have been under investigation by research groups in several countries for the past 18 years. This work has cost in excess of $240 million and probably utilised more than 1000 man years of effort. However, the central problem of developing an adequate heat extraction region with the correct hydraulic properties has still not been solved. The results from the large field experiments suggest that the heat transfer areas are formed by the pre-existing natural fractures in the reservoir region and that HDR systems will be dependant upon the natural inter - connections in the fractures forming flow paths to extract the heat.