Primera planta geotérmica en Corea del Sur en Pohang, podría iniciar operación este año
Drilling rig on project site in Pohang/ South Korea (source: DESTRESS Project)
carlos Jorquera
22 Feb 2017
Un proyecto geotérmico de tecnología EGS en Corea del Sur, se espera que inicie operación a finales de este año y sería la primera planta geotérmica en Corea.
(Piensa Geotermia en “modo vacaciones”)
Reported from South Korea, the country’s first geothermal power plant is expected to start operation in the second half of 2017, with construction expected to be completed in April.
The project is located in Pohang, a city on the coast in the Southeast of the Korean Peninsula and will be fuelled by a well drilled to a depth of around 4,000 meters. We reported on the project late last year in the context of research activities of the DESTRESS project.
Supported through the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, the project started in 2011 and has seen an investment of $38 million (South Korean Won 43.2 billion) with $16 million provided from government funding and $22 million from private investors.
With planned capacity of 1.2 MW, the plant is expected to provide electricity for 1,000 households later in 2017 or early next year.
If the start of the plant is successful, further funding of $70 million will be sought to expand the facility to a total power generation capacity of 6.2 MW by 2019.
According to officials, the development of a megawatt-capacity enhanced geothermal system (EGS) on non-volcanic grounds will be the first of its kind in Asia.
Establishing an EGS begins by drilling until a sufficient temperature for geothermal generation is reached, after which high-pressure water is injected to break the bedrock and create an artificial underground reservoir. After filling the repository with water, it is heated geothermally, and the steam generated by the process is used to drive the plant’s turbines to generate electricity.
Officials said regions in Pohang were found to have the optimal conditions for generating geothermal electricity, with some reaching 180 degrees Celsius at a depth of five kilometres. In a typical volcanic area, the temperature reaches 150 degrees at a depth of one kilometre.
Source: Korea BizWire // ThinkGeoEnergy
