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August 2009

vol. 14, No. 34 Week of August 23, 2009

NEA spuds King Salmon geothermal well

Exploration targets potential resource under the eastern end of Alaska Peninsula; could provide power for local communities

By Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

After more than 10 years of investigation and planning by Southwest Alaska electric cooperative, Naknek Electric Association, the co-op’s first geothermal exploration well, the Naknek-G No.1, is auguring its way toward possible hydrothermal fluids in rock fractures 9,000 to 12,000 feet below the eastern end of the Alaska Peninsula. The well, located about seven miles northeast of King Salmon at township 17 south, range 44 west, section 14 of the Seward meridian, spud Aug. 16, Donna Vukich, NEA’s general manager, told Petroleum News Aug. 17.

“We’re moving forward now,” Vukich said.

A crew from geothermal contractor ThermaSource is doing the drilling using rig No. 7 that NEA has purchased from Wyoming-based DHS Drilling. NEA expects it to take about 70 days to drill to the target depth range, but the co-op has allowed for a contingency of another 30 days to drill to 14,000 feet, if that proves necessary, Vukich said.

New power source

The co-op hopes that a multiwell geothermal deep drilling program will establish a new power source for up to 30 communities in the Naknek region, to provide relief from the escalating fuel costs that have hit rural Alaska in recent years.

The cost of the Naknek-G No.1 well is estimated at $13.5 million, with an additional cost of $1.4 million if the well has to drill all the way to 14,000 feet. The U.S. Department of Energy is funding the project to the tune of nearly $2.9 million under a grant secured by Sen. Ted Stevens. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is trying to secure another $2.5 million for the project through the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, Vukich said. NEA will itself cover costs not met through DOE funding.

The Alaska Peninsula is noted for volcanic activity; oil exploration wells close to the Naknek region have encountered temperatures in the range 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit at depths around 12,000 feet, Vukich told Petroleum News in 2007. And if the geothermal drilling meets with success, hot subterranean water, perhaps flowing though fractures associated with a major geologic fault in the region, might drive what is termed a binary geothermal system, a system in which the geothermal fluid vaporizes a lower-boiling-point fluid such as a refrigerant, with vapor from the lower-boiling-point fluid then driving a turbine-powered electricity generator. This type of geothermal power system has already been successfully demonstrated at the Chena Hot Springs Resort in Interior Alaska, using geothermal water at just 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Geothermal indications

Some thermal anomalies identified from thermal imagery obtained in the Naknek area 12 to 15 years ago during a search for coalbed methane first suggested the possibility of geothermal energy in the region. And subsequent soil sampling found soil chemistry indicative of underground geothermal activity. NEA then carried out shallow drilling at three possible deep drilling sites and discovered subsurface soil chemistry that confirmed the geothermal potential of the area.

NEA has conducted a 3-D seismic survey to try to pinpoint a drilling target. However, the volcanic nature of the subsurface rocks rendered the seismic data analysis inconclusive, causing the co-op to use other geophysical techniques such as ground magnetics to determine where to drill, Vukich said.

And if the drilling program proves successful, NEA anticipates building a 25-megawatt power plant, expandable in stages to 50 megawatts, with a transmission network tying the power supply to the various regional communities. Geothermal power could not only reduce the cost of living for residents of the region — it could also trigger a resurgence in the regional fishing industry.

“Our region has been known for development and being self-sustaining. We want to get back to that,” Vukich said in 2007. “… That’s why tying in the region is so important. That can change 25 to 30 villages overnight if the cost of power is affordable.”






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