Amplify EGS Project: Seismic Monitoring for In-field and Near-field Enhanced Geothermal Systems Stimulation at Wells of Opportunity (WOO) Sites in Nevada

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office assembled the Amplify Monitoring Team (AMT) to provide in-field and near-field seismic monitoring and data analysis for geothermal stimulations under the Wells of Opportunity Amplify initiative. Amplify Monitoring is a collaborative team of scientists and engineers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the U.S. Geological Survey working directly with enhanced geothermal systems operators in Nevada in developing optimized seismic monitoring systems at four geothermal fields where well stimulations are planned. These fields include Don A. Campbell, Tungsten Mountain and Jersey Valley operated by Ormat Technologies, and Patua operated by Cyrq Patua Acquisition Company LLC. During the pre-stimulation phase, AMT’s site characterizations, source simulations and 3D modeling will help improve understanding of potential seismic hazard at each site and inform the Operator’s Induced Seismicity Mitigation Protocol. During the stimulation phase, AMT will provide real-time seismic information to operators including locations and magnitudes, and will continue long-term seismic monitoring operations during the post-stimulation phase at each site. Over the next two years, AMT will be installing borehole seismic monitoring systems at all four WOO-Amplify field sites, telemetering the waveform data to AMT’s central processing system and providing the processed location data in real-time to the operator teams. These data, models, telemetry systems, and lessons-learned will be critical for effective monitoring of the effects of planned well stimulations and extended flow tests, with the seismic data available to commercial operators and the public.