Recent Activities on Low-Temperature Geothermal Development in Korea

Abstract

Geothermal utilization in Korea has been of direct-use, mainly on public baths with low-temperature geothermal water from hundreds of wells down to several hundred meters or more than 1 km along fracture zones. In the beginning of the new millennium, this kind of private activity on developing hot spa is declining partly due to excessive drilling cost and partly from over-development situation.

On the other hand, governmental investment is rapidly increasing after 2002. Geothermal heat pump started its business although it is still on the stage of proof-of-concept around big cities. Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) started research on thermal characteristics of Korean geology, and provided this result, we expect that geothermal heat pump will continuously expand its application to space heating and cooling in urban area. The most important progress is the new low-temperature geothermal development project for district heating in a city at southeastern part of Peninsula which shows high geothermal anomaly in terms of geothermal gradient, heat flow and lineament distribution. KIGAM has launched this project in the year of 2003 aiming that the practical heat supply system is designed by the end of 2005.