Geothermal Resource Assessment for EGS in Korea

Abstract

An assessment of the geothermal resource in Korea was performed using the volume method. In Korea, subsurface temperatures range from 23.9  47.9°C at a depth of 1 km, 34.2  79.7°C at a depth of 2 km, 44.2  110.9°C at a depth of 3 km, 53.8  141.5°C at a depth of 4 km, and 63.1  171.6°C at a depth of 5 km. The total available subsurface geothermal energy in Korea is 4.25×1021 J from the surface to a depth of 1 km, 1.67×1022 J to a depth of 2 km, 3.72×1022 J to a depth of 3 km, 6.52×1022 J to a depth of 4 km, and 1.01×1023 J to a depth of 5 km. In particular, the southeastern part of Korea exhibits high temperatures and high amounts of stored energy at depth. If only 2% of geothermal resource from surface to a depth of 5 km is exploited in Korea, it would be equivalent to about 200 times the annual consumption of primary energy (~2.33×108 TOE) in Korea in 2006.