The concept of the Iceland deep drilling project

Calculations discussed in the Iceland Deep Drilling Project feasibility study in 2003 indicated that, for same volumetric flow rate of steam, a geothermal well producing from natural supercritical fluid would have the potential to generate power outputs an order of magnitude greater than from conventional high-temperature wells (240–340 °C). To reach supercritical hydrous fluid conditions in natural geothermal systems requires deep drilling to a minimum depth of some 3.5–5 km were temperature conditions can be expected to range between 400 and 600 °C in reasonably active high-temperature fields. Three geothermal fields in Iceland, Reykjanes, Hengill and Krafla, were selected as suitable locations for deep drilling to test this concept in search of natural supercritical geothermal fluid systems.