Publication Name: Eastern Australian Basins Symposium III (EABS 2008)
Authors: G.T. Cooper and G.R. Beardsmore
Date Published: September 2008
Number of Pages: 10
Abstract:
The conventional emphasis on temperature risks as the key aspect of geothermal exploration has resulted in other areas of risk being overlooked. This paper identifies four critical risk areas which must be considered when undertaking a holistic Geothermal Systems Assessment (GSA) of an area, and discusses some parameters involved in the assessment of these risks. The probability of encountering an economic geothermal resource is largely controlled by four, largely independent, geological factors—heat flow (conductive and advective), thermal resistance (insulation), reservoir characteristics (including prevailing stress regime) and access to a working fluid (water or steam). This approach is synonymous with risk methodologies used in Petroleum Systems Analyses.