Researchers at the University of Oklahoma have received $1.7 million from the US Department of Energy to reuse abandoned oil and gas wells to provide geothermal energy.
The grant will allow researchers to assess and demonstrate the viability of producing geothermal energy from four hydrocarbon wells. The proposed project plans to use the energy to heat nearby Tuttle Public Schools.
The project’s principal investigator, Saeed Salehi, said the idea of recycling old oil and gas wells is a cost-effective way to use the infrastructure already in place.
“Once you’ve produced oil and gas from those reservoirs and they’re at the end of their life, then instead of taking those assets out, [we] completely reuse them to help the community meet their energy needs,” Salehi said.
To turn an abandoned oil well into a functional site for geothermal energy, the facility will pump hot groundwater to the surface, create steam, and this steam will spin a turbine attached to an electrical generator. Salehi said that because the water flows from the ground and is injected back into the ground, it is completely renewable.
The project is still in its infancy, and Salehi said the team first needs to come up with a proof of concept before beginning fieldwork. Although it could be at least three years before the project goes live, Salehi hopes this new idea will catch the attention of energy companies and put Oklahoma on the map for another form of energy. renewable.
“The vision we have is to make Oklahoma the [geothermal energy capital] of the world. Because we have the resources, we have these sinks, we have this active fossil fuel industry here,” Salehi said. “And everyone’s talking about renewable energy and reducing the carbon footprint – that’s it.”
The initiative is in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Blue Cedar Energy and Baker Hughes Company.
More information about the project can be found here.
