ENERGY SECURITYFuture of Geothermal in New Mexico
New Mexico is known for bringing the heat with its famous green chiles, but a new report points to another source of heat that’s causing excitement. A new report lays out the opportunities —and challenges —to harnessing the state’s geothermal resources as a reliable, sustained domestic source of energy.
New Mexico is known for bringing the heat with its famous green chiles, but a new report points to another source of heat that’s causing excitement. Project Innerspace’s report titled “Future of Geothermal in New Mexico” lays out the opportunities — and challenges — to harnessing the state’s geothermal resources as a reliable, sustained domestic source of energy.
One of the report’s lead authors is Travis Broadhurst, a geomechanics doctoral student at UNM and an intern with Sandia’s Geothermal Research department. Travis called the report “seminal,” saying he expects it to “kick-start a lot of things.”
The report’s nine chapters range from characterizing the state’s subsurface resources and potential applications to the regulatory, environmental and stakeholder factors that must be considered in the development of geothermal projects. “For geothermal developers, having one single document that includes all that up-to-date information is really helpful,” Travis said.
Barriers to Entry
Despite the enthusiasm generated by the report, geothermal energy still faces multiple barriers to development in New Mexico and beyond. Geothermal systems traditionally require three things: hot rocks, water and permeability within the rock so the water can flow. According to Giorgia Bettin, manager of Sandia’s geothermal research group, it is a challenge to find resources that meet these conditions.
“Discovering and developing geothermal resources can be very expensive. Traditionally, half the cost of development has just been drilling,” said Giorgia, who was a contributing author on the report.
Geothermal wells are typically located in harder, more abrasive rock formations with higher temperatures than oil and gas wells. These conditions impede the use of many traditional oil and gas tools used for drilling, as well as for sensing the environment and monitoring operations. Having suitable tools could help to reduce the risk of failure, and ultimately, lower costs for geothermal development.
Further, sometimes the conditions are not quite right for a conventional geothermal system. Enhanced geothermal systems can fill this gap by injecting fluid into hot rocks to stimulate permeability and heat production, but more research is needed to optimize their performance.
Even with these challenges, New Mexico has several advantages over other states in pursuing geothermal, Travis said.
