Oilwell Conversion (Well API 121913310501) to Geothermal Heat Storage Well for Flexible Electricity Storage

Geothermal growth is limited by a lack of geographically dispersed high-temperature thermal resources and high initial upfront investment in characterization and well construction. This project intended to address the challenges of energy supply intermittency and enhance grid resilience, reliability, and energy security by storing energy provided from currently available renewable resources in the subsurface to harvest it a later time during at-peak energy demand.
This project intended to improve geothermal adoption, reduce initial project risk, and improve price competitiveness through utilizing existing oil and gas infrastructure such as non-productive wells, non-economic fields, dry holes, and orphaned wells. The project also intended to address the lack of geographically dispersed thermal resources and enhance grid resilience, reliability, and energy security by introducing an economical method for storing energy from currently available renewable resources in the subsurface for usage during at-peak energy demand.
During this research, the project furthered the understanding of the feasibility of utilizing abandoned oil and gas wells as geothermal heat storage wells. The project team investigated the heat storage and hydrogeological characteristics of subsurface reservoirs in the Illinois Basin to evaluate their response to heat injection for determining the evolution of temperature profiles and heat losses over time using existing and available data sets. The project team then performed modeling and simulation to evaluate the heat losses of returning fluids during heat extraction. The outputs were used to select an optimal candidate reservoir and location in Southern Illinois. The team designed and performed a small-scale field test in an existing oil well to refine the model and to demonstrate the permitting and regulatory pathways necessary for the conversion of oil and gas assets to geothermal use. The field test also serves as a proof of concept and can guide the procedures for future research and implementation.
Additionally, the project team, conducted initial market research and customer discovery to develop a go to market strategy for an Advanced Geothermal Energy Storage (AGES) system. The project team in this research also identified the parameters to be refined in future research, to improve the current go to market strategy economic model. To this end several subject matter experts were also identified to assist in future research with geothermal infrastructure setup, energy storage policy and law, energy storage market demand, potential siting based on demand etc. Future research will involve further sophistication of the site commercial modeling, implementing a larger-scale test, and further refinement of the thermodynamic modeling/simulation process. The output will be lifecycle costs and economics suitable for comparison to alternative approaches from a validated full-scale demonstration for venture capital investment into this technology.
The project successfully demonstrated the ability to leverage existing oilfield infrastructure, permits, and land access and leasing agreements, to enable geothermal storage projects to come online faster and cheaper than a greenfield development could. This technology could allow for greater energy independence and security through long-term energy storage solutions. The longer duration allows for greater storage for renewables currently limited by hours-long storage durations of lithium-ion. The AGES system would support the growth of renewable energy farms, and provide greater opportunities for a cleaner energy infrastructure.

地热能的增长受到地理分布分散的高温热资源匮乏以及初期对地热资源特征化与井口建设的高额前期投资的限制。本项目的宗旨在于解决能源供应的间歇性问题，并提升电网的弹性、可靠性和能源安全，通过在地下储存当前可用的可再生能源提供的能源，以便在高峰电力需求时段进行回收利用。该项目旨在通过利用现有的油气基础设施，如非生产井、非经济油田、干井和弃井，来提高地热能的采用率、降低初期项目风险，并通过改善价格竞争力。此外，项目还旨在通过引入一种经济的方法，将目前可用的可再生能源在地下储存，以便在高峰电力需求时段使用，从而解决地理分布分散的热资源不足问题，并增强电网的弹性、可靠性和能源安全。在研究过程中，项目团队进一步探讨了利用废弃油气井作为地热热储存井的可行性。该团队调查了伊利诺伊盆地地下储层的储热和地下水文特征，以评估其对热注入的反应，并利用现有数据集确定温度剖面和随时间推移的热量损失的演变。随后，项目团队进行了建模和模拟，以评估热提取过程中返回流体的热量损失。这些输出被用于在伊利诺伊州南部选择一个最优的候选储层和位置。团队设计并实施了一个小规模现场测试，以优化模型并展示将油气资产转换为地热使用的必要许可和监管途径。该现场测试还作为概念验证，可指导未来研究和实施的程序。此外，项目团队还进行了初步的市场研究和客户发现，以开发针对高级地热能源储存系统（AGES）的市场进入策略。在本项研究中，项目团队还确定了未来研究中需要细化的参数，以改进当前的市场进入策略经济模型。为此，还确定了多位领域专家，以协助未来研究在地热基础设施设置、能源储存政策与法律、能源储存市场需求、基于需求的潜在选址等方面。未来的研究将涉及进一步精细化的场地商业建模、实施更大规模的测试，以及进一步优化热力学建模/模拟过程。最终输出将是适用于与验证的全规模示范进行比较的生命周期成本和经济性分析，为风险投资进入该技术领域提供依据。该项目成功展示了利用现有油田基础设施、许可和土地接入及租赁协议的能力，使地热储存项目能够比绿色场开发更快、更便宜地上线。这项技术可能允许通过长期储能解决方案实现更大的能源独立性和安全性。更长的储存时间允许储存目前受限于数小时储存时间的锂离子电池。AGES系统将支持可再生能源农场的增长，并为更清洁的能源基础设施提供更多机会。