Unsuccessful geothermal project in Lavey-les-Bains, Switzerland
The flow from the well in Lavey-les-Bains, Switzerland, will not be sufficient to support the planned geothermal power plant. The drilling rig is now being moved to the next planned location in Vinzel.
The developer of the geothermal project in Lavey-les-Bains, Switzerland, has thwarted the ambitions of geothermal development in the canton of Vaud and reports that the flow rates of the drilled well are insufficient for a successful implementation of a planned geothermal power plant. The project has been temporarily suspended while the drill rig is being transported to the next drill site at Vinzel, another prospective site identified in a previous seismic survey campaign.
We previously reported on the progress of drilling for the Lavey-les-Bains project by Alpine Geothermal Power Production (AGEPP). Drilling through the hard gneiss was a challenge the team was able to overcome and some planned logging measurements had to be cancelled. Temperatures measured at the bottom of the well exceeded expectations, but there was not enough flow to sustain geothermal power generation.
“We clearly would have liked better efficiency, but that’s part of the random nature of geothermal energy. At least that experience taught us something about our basement. In addition, we have other geothermal projects ahead of us, notably in Vinzel and Montagny-près-Yverdon,” said Vaud State Councilor Vassilis Venizelos.
“Ultimately, one-fifth of the canton’s heating requirements should be produced with geothermal energy. However, in order to achieve this, we must increase the means of our knowledge of the soil. In the canton of Vaud, we know that we have an interesting geothermal potential. It remains to develop it. In general,” said Venizelos.
The data collected from the drill hole will prove valuable in characterizing the region’s subsurface. The well backup is complete and the site will be restored soon.
For Geothermie Suisse, the umbrella organization of the geothermal energy industry in Switzerland, the outcome of the Lavey-les-Bains project proves that the risk associated with exploring the subsoil should not be borne by the company or individual developers. Since Switzerland has no oil, gas or mining tradition, there is very little information about its subsoil. This means that the risk of failure with geothermal energy is higher than with other renewable energies. In order to achieve equal treatment, the geological risk must be borne in full by the Confederation.
Benoît Valley, full professor at the University of Neuchâtel’s Institute of Hydrogeology and Geothermal Energy, advises that despite the failure of Lavey-les-Bains, the geothermal industry must persevere. “Ideally we should hold on as we know there is water in Lavey. It is used for baths. To give an order of magnitude between 5 and 7 wells must be drilled to have 1 or 2 of them functional. But the better we know the Swiss underground, the more effective the drilling will be.”
Source: 20 minutes