Development program of hot dry rock geothermal resource in the Yangbajing Basin of China

Geothermal energy from hot dry rock (HDR), considered an almost inexhaustible source of “green” energy, was first developed and tested in the 1970s, leading to installations in America, Japan, Britain, France and other countries. In the present work, a liquating rock mass at a depth of 5–15 km in the Tibet Yangbajing region in China was subjected to detailed analysis. The temperature distribution of the geothermal field in the region was determined by the finite element method. The results estimate that the HDR geothermal resource of the Yangbajing region is 5.4 × 109 MW a, representing a huge potential source of HDR geothermal energy for China. Based on detailed research into the continental dynamics of the environment forming the HDR geothermal field of Tibet, along with the tectonic characteristics of the southern slope of Tanggula Mountain and the Dangxiong–Yangbajing Basin, and the magnitude and orientation of the in situ stresses in the region, the design of an arrangement for extracting these HDR geothermal resources is proposed: taking the fault zone nearest the high-temperature liquating rock region as the location of an artificial reservoir, a vertical injection well could be drilled at a low point on the downdip side of the fault, and two dipping production wells drilled higher up. In this way, an artificial reservoir 3 × 1011 m3 in volume would be created: 360 times the volume of the HDR geothermal reservoir in Cornwall, UK, which uses hydrofracturing. An investigation of the reservoir features, including seepage analysis of the heat exchange area, project implementation and investment analysis, indicates that a 104 MW capacity power station with a projected operating life of approximately 100 years could be constructed. An analysis of a geothermal extraction system comprising one injection well and two production wells suggest that a power station of 1000 MW installed capacity could be constructed initially to provide electricity production of 8.64 × 109 kWh per year.

► The total HDR geothermal resource is estimated in the Yangbajing basin of China.
► The design of an arrangement for extracting the HDR thermal resource is proposed.
► The artificial reservoir 3 × 1011 m3 in volume can be created.
► The investment and benefit are calculated based on a couple of wells.