The region has six major coal-fired power plants that collectively emit about 80 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
By staff at GreenFire Partners LLC, USA
HOUSTON, Texas – Enhanced Oil Resources Inc (EOR) has announced a joint venture agreement with GreenFire Energy to evaluate the potential for carbon dioxide-based geothermal power production (CO2G™) from the St Johns Dome area, located in Apache County, Arizona and Catron County, New Mexico.
The agreement calls for the construction of a demonstration plant that will utilise “supercritical” (sic) carbon dioxide from the dome to drive a demonstration geothermal power facility to be located nearby. In 2010, the demonstration project is expected to start drilling up to four deep wells to access high-heat crystalline rock underlying the dome.
The construction of the demonstration plant is to begin during 2011, and will initially be sized for two megawatts (MW), requiring up to 141,584 cubic-metres per day of CO2 at a purity of 95% for a period of at least two years. If the demonstration project is successful, modular commercial-scale plants, each with a generating capacity of approximately 50 MW may be built nearby.
At maximum potential build-out, using natural CO2 from the St. Johns Dome, the joint venture may have a generating capacity of 800 MW, and may require up to 14 million cubic metres of the gas per day for up to 25 years.
Coal-fired plants
The region in which the St. Johns Dome is located contains six major coal-fired power plants that collectively emit about 80 million tonnes of CO2 per year. If a carbon tax is enacted, then the most economic way for these power plants to sequester their carbon may be through CO2-based geothermal energy production at the Dome.
As the CO2 is cycled through the rock, a portion of it is sequestered into the surrounding geologic materials. The power generated by the geothermal plant can then drive the carbon capture technology, which is energy intensive, at the coal-fired power plants. There is the potentiial for more than 3,000 MW to be generated at the Dome using anthropogenic CO2.
The St. Johns Dome area is considered to be in an optimal location at which to develop CO2-based geothermal energy. This is due to its combination of a large volume of low cost natural CO2, the likely presence of a thermal reservoir underlying the region, and a local connection into the power grid.
As power plants around the world begin implementing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), many additional sites for CO2-based geothermal energy projects may become available.
Government funding
The joint venture intends to apply for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) through the federal stimulus plan. In 2009, the DoE allocated US$350 million for geothermal energy projects. It has, however, allocated more than $3 billion for CCS projects.
Similar federal funding opportunities will probably exist in 2010 and beyond, with considerably more in the proposed Climate Bill. The joint venture considers the St Johns project to be eligible for funding through CCS programmes.
The agreement between EOR Inc and GreenFire provides each party with an option to participate for a 50% interest in the demonstration plant and any future commercial plant. GreenFire will act as the operator of the geothermal project and EOR will act as operator of the St. Johns field development.
An executive at EOR, Barry Lasker, said: "The agreement with GreenFire opens up an additional exciting opportunity for the company to “monetize” (sic) the resource at the St. Johns dome. Our business plan to bring CO2 to the Permian Basin remains firmly in place; however, in today's carbon-constrained world the potential to extract our helium resource, sequester our CO2, and generate renewable energy for the country – all within the confines of the St. Johns area – represents an intriguing opportunity for the company.”
CO2-based geothermal energy systems have a wide range of potential benefits, including:
- The lowest combined capital and operational costs of any scalable power generation system
- Virtually zero air emissions
- Generates renewable energy
- Sequesters carbon
GreenFire Partners LLC is a Delaware-based company doing business as GreenFire Energy. Currently based in Salt Lake City, Utah, it focuses on economic systems for creating renewable energy. More at www.greenfireenergy.com
| 
