The Geothermal Exploration in the Last Decade at the Metamorphic Region in Northeastern Taiwan
Journal
Transactions - Geothermal Resources Council
Journal Volume
47
Pages
1627
ISBN
0934412294
Date Issued
2023-01-01
Author(s)
Wang, Chyi
Abstract
Taiwan is an island nation resided in east Asia that mostly depends on imports for its power generation. The search for domestic energy resources often became a crucial task during the global oil crises, and geothermal exploration has started since the 1960s at places with hot springs and geysers around the island. With the development of advanced concepts and new technologies, a multi-year national energy program initiated by the government in the 2010s began with a thorough inventory of geothermal resources surveys and chose the Yilan area with a slew of exploration activities in search of targets for the hidden and/or enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). Topics in characteristics of geothermal resources, deep drilling surveys, reservoir engineering, and promotion of geothermal energy power plants were proposed and analyzed in full swing at Yilan Plain, the rifting basin setting at the western tip of Okinawa trough, in northeastern Taiwan. The project has systematically used methods in geology (such as field works and stratigraphy/structure mapping), geophysics (such as gravity, magnetic, seismic, and magnetotellurics surveys), and geochemistry (such as isotope, geothermometer calculation using groundwater ions concentration and temperature measures in shallow wells) in four sub-areas to compile an overall survey result and construct geological and geothermal conceptual models, along with geothermal probability map out of play fairway analysis, for selecting potential drilling sites and performing production capacity test and reservoir simulation. Firsthand domestic knowledge in geothermal exploration at Yilan Plain has been earned from the usages and interpretations of different geophysical surveying data over the metamorphic rock terrain to the verification of deep borehole drilling for hot fluid through thick quaternary sediment layers. This study provides a review of the performed activities, executed processes, and results during the last decade that revamped the weighting of various geothermal exploration procedures and attached better means over the unique geological settings locally in Northeast Taiwan. Such invaluable experiences will significantly benefit the growth of geothermal development in Taiwan.
Subjects
EGS | Geothermal exploration | Metamorphic Region | Taiwan
SDGs
Type
conference paper