Barriers of Geothermal Power Generation in Korea and Possible Solutions

Abstract

Most of the barriers for geothermal power generation (GPP) seem to stem from acknowledge of the fact that Korea does not have any high enthalpy geothermal resources. Due to lack of high quality geothermal resources near the surface, we have to go deeper into the earth, which inevitably draws concerns about higher costs and risks, and needs higher level of technology and infra-structures. These can be one of the main reasons to make the government and private sector including power companies to hesitate investment to geothermal. Continuous efforts for geothermal explorations from Pohang area, Jeju island, Seokmo island, and Ulleung island lead some project to get the budget for drilling exploration wells. But this time, we face technical barriers including lack of infra-structures and experiences in drilling tools and technology, logging tools, engineering experiences at depth, and so on. The drilling was delayed and again the investors hesitate to put more budget into the project. But we have just started the learning curve and need to show people a successful story; say, steam first in Pohang project, which can activate investments from governments and industries who are very eager to find economic alternative renewables to solar or wind.